Football Season Guide

It looked as if Paderborn had missed their chance of promotion last season after a late collapse in the league, but they eventually re-grouped to gain victory over Wolfsburg in the play-offs. Paderborn remain under the watchful eye of impressive young boss Kettemann and will return to the Bundesliga for the first time in 6 seasons. Goalkeeper Seimen left after his loan spell ended but Nahuel Noll has the ability to take on the role after building up experience over the last few seasons. The departure of Brackelmann in defence was a difficult one to take but Awortwie-Grant has the potential to fill in his footsteps, the return of previously injured Hoffmeier will also help. Jan ter Horst is a reliable backup. Creative midfielder Baur is another high profile loss in midfield but new players Duric, Batista-Meier, and Ulrich are all capable of unlocking defences. The left wing position has been strengthened with the arrival of Vidovic from Dinamo Zagreb with healthy competition from young talent Millgramm. Zeitler on loan from Hoffenheim is another top prospect having notched 15 goals for the U23 side last season, whether he can make the step up remains to be seen. Paderborn should possess plenty of energy and strike a good balance between attack and defence, they are also likely to be tactically flexible under Kettemann. The weakness could be in attack, they have yet to replace top-scorer Bilbija after he left to join Derby and Marino, Tigges, and Okpala are unlikely to hit big numbers in this department.