Under new interim manager Polzin, Hamburg win 3-1 at the Wildpark and climb to second place in the table. The victory was deserved overall, with Dompé in particular delivering a truly strong performance.

Selke and Franke clash with each other.

Hamburg will be in second place in the table after today's win.

Due to numerous fouls and substitutions, there has been little flow to the game in the last few minutes.

Jatta delivers a sharp cross from the right, but the Karlsruhe keeper comes out and snatches the ball.

The ball is rolling again, and the teams start the second half unchanged. Who will be able to take the three points?

The teams go into the dressing rooms with a fair 1-1 scoreline. Hamburg dominated the early stages, but Karlsruhe came into the game after conceding and eventually managed to equalise. We can look forward to an exciting second half!

After initial Hamburg dominance, the match has become very open in the final minutes.

Jatta catches Wanitzek on the touchline, but the Karlsruhe captain is able to continue.

Karlsruhe are pressing Hamburg high up the pitch, but after losing possession, Hamburg quickly counter-attack. Due to Karabec's hasty shot, the play then swiftly moves in the opposite direction.

Hamburg start the match well.

The ball is rolling in Karlsruhe. Can interim manager Merlin Polzin turn the tide for Hamburg?

Bakery Jatta is in Hamburg's starting line-up for the first time since Matchday 2 this season (1-1 home draw against Hertha). Since then, he has only been used twice as a substitute (for a total of 31 minutes).

Bambasé Conté is in the Karlsruhe starting line-up for only the second time this season. Previously, the 21-year-old had only started on Matchday 10 in the 1-3 home defeat against Hertha.

Interim coach Merlin Polzin makes four changes to his starting eleven compared to the last match (2-2 home draw against Schalke): Hadžikadunić, Karabec, Dompé and Jatta play in place of Katterbach, Meffert (both not in the squad), Poreba and Selke (both on the bench).

Manager Christian Eichner makes one change to his starting lineup from their last match (3-2 victory in Fürth): Bambasé Conté comes in for Leon Jensen (suspended due to yellow card accumulation).

Heuer Fernandes - Mikelbrencis, Hadžikadunić, Schonlau (c), Muheim - Elfadli - Karabec, Richter - Jatta, Königsdörffer, Dompé

Weiß - Jung, Franke, Beifus, Herold - Burnić, Rapp - Conté, Wanitzek (c) - Zivzivadze, Schleusener

"The past few days have been very intense. It's never easy to return to business as usual after a dismissal. At the same time, we want to fulfil the club's mandate and work with the squad on many aspects for Sunday's match."

"We're at the start of a fantastic week with two home matches that will be quite challenging. To finish it off, we'll then head to the Betzenberg. Along with the anticipation, we're still doing well to focus on Sunday. The conditions are excellent and we're in a good starting position."

Jonas Meffert played 58 second-division matches (scoring two goals) for Karlsruhe. In the memorable relegation play-off in 2015, while wearing the KSC shirt, he was involved in an alleged handball incident during stoppage time. The resulting free-kick was converted by Marcelo Dia, costing KSC promotion (the match went into extra time, with Hamburg winning 2-1).

Budu Zivzivadze scored once in each match against Hamburg last season.

Christian Eichner experienced his first second-division match as head coach of KSC against HSV (on 8 February 2020 in a 2-0 defeat in Hamburg).

Karlsruhe have collected seven points and scored ten goals in their last three matches against Hamburg (4-2 and 2-2 at home, most recently 4-3 away).

Welcome along and thanks for joining us for build-up and live coverage of this Matchday 14 fixture between Karlsruher SC and Hamburger SV.