In a meeting between two sides at opposite ends of the table after five games, Sunday’s clash presents Bielefeld with an opportunity to end their recent run without a win, while Heidenheim will be looking to continue their impressive start to life back in the 2. Bundesliga.
After securing promotion back to the second tier in 2025, Bielefeld enjoyed an uncomfortable first season back in the 2. Bundesliga, finishing 13th while securing survival on the final day. Their second campaign has begun in similar fashion, with Oliver Kirch’s side collecting just four points from their opening five fixtures and sitting 14th in the table.
Arminia began the season with a 2-1 defeat away to Karlsruhe before recording their only league victory so far, a 3-0 home success over Energie Cottbus inspired by Joel Grodowski’s hat-trick. A 4-1 defeat at Nürnberg followed, before they drew 2-2 with St. Pauli at the SchücoArena and suffered a narrow 2-1 loss away to Darmstadt last weekend.
Despite their struggles on the road, Bielefeld have remained unbeaten at home, collecting four points from their two matches in front of their own supporters.
Kirch is therefore hoping his side can make home advantage count against a Heidenheim team that has made an encouraging start following relegation from the Bundesliga.
“Heidenheim is an opponent who plays very intensively and physically, scores many goals from set pieces and is strong in transition,” Kirch said. “We have a good plan against Heidenheim and want to keep the points in Bielefeld.”
Heidenheim have collected 12 points from their opening five league matches and currently sit third. Frank Schmidt’s side opened the campaign with a thrilling 4-3 victory over Osnabrück before suffering a 4-1 defeat at Hertha BSC.
They subsequently responded strongly, however, producing a second-half four-goal comeback to defeat Dynamo Dresden 5-3 before beating Greuther Fürth 1-0 away from home. Last weekend, they secured another 1-0 victory, this time against Holstein Kiel, with Jonas Föhrenbach scoring the decisive goal from a corner in the 84th minute.
Schmidt has played down the significance of his side’s recent momentum, while acknowledging that Bielefeld’s home record means his players will face a difficult test.
“Bielefeld have lost all three of their away games, but at home they have scored five goals and taken four points against St. Pauli and Energie Cottbus. It is never easy at the ‘Alm’,” Schmidt said.
“We know that we will face an opponent who now desperately wants to win three points, especially before this long international break. We need a very good performance. We have to be very stable, as we have been in the last two games, especially defensively, to take something from there.”
The visitors’ recent defensive improvement will be particularly important after they conceded seven goals across their opening two home victories against Osnabrück and Dresden. They have subsequently kept clean sheets in wins over Fürth and Kiel.
Heidenheim have also demonstrated a particular threat from set pieces. Föhrenbach’s winner against Kiel came from a corner, while Kirch specifically highlighted the visitors’ ability to score from dead-ball situations ahead of Sunday’s meeting.
The head-to-head record is closely contested. The sides have met 12 times in the 2. Bundesliga, with Bielefeld winning twice, Heidenheim winning three times and the remaining seven encounters ending in draws. The most recent meeting came in February 2023, when Heidenheim won 1-0 at the SchücoArena.
Team newsArminia Bielefeld: Oliver Kirch has confirmed that his entire squad trained on Friday after several players who had been dealing with minor issues earlier in the week returned to full training. The head coach therefore has a fully available squad.
Daniel Richter remains the notable longer-term absentee, having been ruled out with a knee injury.
Heidenheim: Sirlord Conteh remains unavailable as he continues his recovery from knee surgery, while Maximilian Breunig is also sidelined. Marcel Costly will miss the trip to Bielefeld after suffering a muscular injury during the closing stages of last weekend’s victory over Holstein Kiel.
Predicted lineupsArminia Bielefeld (4-3-3): Kersken; Koudossou, Bauer, Großer, Sicker; Russo, Wörl, Jensen; Momuluh, Grodowski, Rochelt.
Heidenheim (3-4-2-1): Dähne; Busch, Mainka, Föhrenbach; Mhamdi, Schöppner, Niehues, Heule; Kaufmann, Honsak; Zivzivadze