Who will win the 2nd Bundesliga? Where will local rivals VfL Bochum and Schalke 04 finish? With the season about to kick off, Sky’s TV experts have given their predictions.
The 2025/26 season in the 2nd Bundesliga kicks off with a real cracker on Friday evening (8:30 p.m.). FC Schalke 04 welcomes Hertha BSC to the Veltins Arena. While Schalke is looking to put the worst season in its history behind it, Berlin is aiming for promotion to the Bundesliga.
The three Sky experts Sören Gonther, Simon Terodde, and Torsten Mattuschka have been busy trying to predict where the 18 teams will finish at the end of the season. And all three agree in their predictions: Hertha will return to the first division as champions.
VfL Bochum is also a hot contender in the promotion race after being relegated from the Bundesliga. While Gonther and former Bochum player Terodde see Dieter Hecking’s team finishing second in the table, Mattuschka predicts that VfL will come in third.“I think getting relegated and then immediately promoted again is a huge challenge that very few coaches have managed to achieve. Nevertheless, Bochum has a good squad with Vogt and Kleine-Bekel from Kiel, for example. It’s obvious that the team needs to achieve positive results again and wants to do so after such a disastrous last season,” said Gonther on Sky’s “Zweitligatalk.”
After the worst finish in the club’s history, TV experts believe FC Schalke will fare slightly better than last season, which saw the Royal Blues finish in an unacceptable 14th place. Mattuschka predicts eighth place for S04, rating Schalke higher than his two Sky colleagues.
Former Schalke player Terodde sees his ex-club in ninth place. “I’ve experienced it myself, the jersey can be heavy. When I look at the opening schedule for the first four games, I think we can rate Miron Muslic a bit higher. A transfer like Timo Becker is well received in the community and will stabilize the defense, which was a big issue at Schalke last year. They have already ensured stability in defense. Offensively, however, there is still room for improvement,” analyzed the record goal scorer in the 2nd Bundesliga.
Former professional Gonther has predicted that the local club will finish twelfth in the table. Although he welcomes the appointment of new sporting director Frank Baumann, who is “a personality at the top who knows exactly how the business works,” he still expects a difficult run for coach Miron Muslic’s team.
“Not much has happened, many players want to leave and are expected to do so. On top of that, there’s the burden of last season, when the team fought against relegation. I think it could be a very difficult season for Schalke. A poor start to the season and it’s probably only a matter of time before Schalke takes the next steps,” explains the 38-year-old.