Football Season Guide

Eintracht Braunschweig came agonisingly close to being promoted last season but fell short at the final hurdle against rivals Wolfsburg in the promotion play-off. However, Torsten Lieberknecht’s side will once again be seen as one of the favourites for promotion this year and will perhaps have a better chance of achieving that ultimate goal. Neither of the sides relegated from the Bundesliga can be seen as being as strong as the teams who finished above Braunschweig last season. Lieberknecht will charge of his tenth full season with the club and he has a very clear idea of the resources available to him in the squad as well as how he wants his side to play. The loss of Phil Ofosu-Ayeh to English Championship side, Wolverhampton Wanderers, is a blow but new signings Robin Becker and Maximilian Sauer will now battle to become the first choice right back. The addition of Louis Samson from fellow second division side Erzgebirge Aue gives Lieberknecht a much needed additional defensive option in midfield which was sorely lacking at times during last season. With Christoffer Nyman and Domi Kumbela being one of the more potent strike partnerships in the league, the squad appears to be one of the more complete in the Bundesliga 2. The most important word for Lieberknecht will therefore be consistency. At times last season, Eintracht were unplayable yet at others they struggled to score goals and dropped points against lower table sides. If Braunschweig can put all the pieces of the puzzle together, they have a very strong case for returning back to the top division.