Hamburger and SSV Ulm 1846 will trade tackles at the Volksparkstadion for their second meeting of the 2024/25 2. Bundesliga campaign. As of the time of writing, Hamburger have garnered 53 points and they sit in second position on the log after 31 games played. Ulm 1846 have 29 points from the same number of games and they are 16th on the standings.
Hamburg are trying their best to return to the Bundesliga following their relegation back in 2018 – the first in their history. The side has always finished in the top four since 2019, but they are closer than ever this time around. With three games to go, they are three points clear of third-placed Magdeburg and one point behind leaders Koln.
Hamburger SV started the season on a fine note, and that has kept them in the top four since then.
A 2-1 away win at FC Koln got them rolling in the new campaign. Ransford Konigsdorffer scored twice in the first half to lead Die Rothosen to a winning start.
Up next was a draw at home to Hertha Berlin before a 7-1 thumping of Meppen in the DFB Pokal. Immanuel Pherai, Davie Selke, and Robert Glatzel all scored in the rout. Back in the 2. Bundesliga, Hamburger went on to lose just one of their next six games – a 1-0 loss at Hannover.
During that run, they did beat Munster, Regensburg, and Dusseldorf, while playing draws with Paderborn and Kaiserslautern. Die Rothosen were also knocked out of the DFB Pokal. Meanwhile, Steffen Baumgart was fired as head coach after five games without a win across all competitions, and Merlin Polzin was appointed as interim manager on November 25, 2024, and was subsequently granted the reins for the remainder of the 2024/25 season.
Currently, they have won just one match in their past five matches in the league. It could be said that they are just hanging on due to the points they have taken earlier in the season.
As for SSV Ulm 1846, they started the season on a losing note at the hands of Kaiserslautern, and they then followed that up with three more losses to Regensburg, Bayern Munich (DFB Pokal), and Dusseldorf. They grabbed their first point of the season by holding Paderborn to a goalless draw in early September.
Die Spatzen then suffered one more loss to Nurnberg before they secured their first win of the season at Elversberg. Johannes Reichert, Felix Higl, and Philipp Strompf scored for Die Spatzen, while Luca Schnellbacher scored for the hosts. That win was followed by another 3-1 win over Braunschweig, and that was it for the year 2024. Ulm failed to win any of their remaining 11 games in the year, including a 1-1 draw with Hamburg in the reverse fixture.
Between January and mid-March, Ulm won just one game. However, they have won four of their past six games in 2. Bundesliga, and they are one of the most in-form sides in the second tier. They are in a straight fight with Munster for the sole relegation playoff spot, and things could be tough in the final three games of the campaign.
So, it is a clash of two teams with different goals. Hamburg are close to a return to the topflight, while the visitors are hoping not to suffer automatic relegation. It should be a tight contest following the 1-1 draw they played in the reverse fixture. It is the penultimate game of the season, so it could carry some serious implications for where both could finish on the final standings.
Hamburger and Ulm have met three times since 1999. Hamburger have won 2 times, Ulm have won 0 times, and the remaining 1 meeting ended in a draw.
Match tickets
The epic match at Volksparkstadion in Hamburg will be played on Saturday, 10th May 2025 at 19:30 GMT+1. The 57,000-capacity stadium will host this league clash between the promotion hopefuls and the survival candidates.
Getting Hamburger v SSV Ulm 1846 tickets could take a lot of work given the standard of this game. Hence, you are advised to search ticket reselling sites should they be expectedly sold out on each club’s channels.
Team news
Line-ups
Hamburg have been flying high this term and have their eyes fixed on one of the automatic promotion tickets. The team is led by Merlin Polzin. Davie Selke has 20 goals for the team and should be part of the starters for this game. Konigsdorffer, who has 11 goals and 3 assists, should also start in this game. Meanwhile, Bakery Jatta, Noah Katterbach, Miro Muheim and Aboubaka Soumahoro are out injured.
Hamburger XI: Daniel Fernandes; William Mikelbrencis, Dennis Hadzikadunic, Daniel Elfadli, Silvan Hefti; Adam Karabec, Jonas Meffert, Ludovit Reis; Emir Sahiti, Davie Selke, Jean-Luc Dompe.
Coach Robert Lechleiter will most likely keep faith with most of the players who played a part in the win over Furth in their last game at the time of writing. Apart from Johannes Reichert who is nursing a knock, Ulm have a clean bill of health.
SSV Ulm 1946 XI: Niclas Thiede; Tom Gaal, Philipp Strompf, Niklas Kolbe; Bastian Allgeier, Max Brandt, Dennis Dressel, Aaron Keller; Maurice Krattenmacher; Semir Telalovic, Felix Higl.
Prediction
Regardless of their current form, Hamburger SV have been excellent in 2. Bundesliga this season.
Hamburger are currently struggling, but they are still holding onto their second spot behind Koln. The former Bundesliga champions have won just once in their past five games and have lost two of the past three. Having not lost at home for most of the season, they have suffered back-to-back home defeats, and they will need to avoid another loss here. Meanwhile, getting Hamburger tickets on time should be a priority.
On the other hand, Ulm are fighting not to suffer automatic relegation from 2. Bundesliga. Apart from that, they have hit top form and will fancy their chances against a side they have never beaten before.
With that being said, one cannot look past a win for the home side or a draw at least, because of their strong home form at the time of writing.
Hamburger SV 2-1 SSV Ulm 1846
