Rot-Weiß Oberhausen will travel to Fortuna Cologne on Saturday (October 12, 2 p.m.) for the top game. Except for the most important player, RWO coach Sebastian Gunkel can draw from a full squad.

“With the exception of Moritz Stoppelkamp, all players are in training. Our coaching team is therefore spoilt for choice. It starts with nominating the matchday squad,” reports Dennis Lichtenwimmer.

The sports director of Rot-Weiß Oberhausen is happy that the RWO hospital has cleared. Last season and even this season, things looked different.

Stoppelkamp’s return will have to wait. “I don’t want to make any predictions. I hope that Moritz will be available to us before the end of this year. You can’t say more than that at the moment,” emphasizes Lichtenwimmer.

But the 34-year-old also knows that Kleeblatt coach Sebastian Gunkel’s team will now have to cope without their leader for the time being and should continue to score points. “We want to ride this wave for as long as possible. We’re very comfortable up there among the top five teams,” says Lichtenwimmer. He adds: ”But we also know that there can be a dip. We have the youngest squad in the Regionalliga West, apart from the U-teams. I’m curious to see how the guys will perform now without Moritz Stoppelkamp.”

The fact that RWO are only two points behind the leaders after ten games has something to do with the fact that this season in Oberhausen it’s been all or nothing – in other words, seven wins and three defeats. By way of comparison with 2023/2024: RWO had 15 (!) draws after 34 matchdays.

“You can’t plan results. But: compared to last year, we’ve moved on from the administration mode. After a 1-0 or 2-1, we look for the next goal and don’t administer. That was different in the past and the penalty often followed in the final phase of a game,” explains the RWO manager.

Depending on how the game goes, Lichtenwimmer wouldn’t mind the first draw of the season against Fortuna Cologne – but he emphasizes: “We’re going there to win. That’s always our aim. But we’re also facing a cool team that we respect. I expect it to be a close game.”

Half an hour later (2:30 p.m.), the round of 16 match in the Lower Rhine Cup between VfB Hilden and Rot-Weiss Essen will kick off. Lichtenwimmer will be looking at the final result with interest after the RWO game. After all, he worked for VfB for many years.

The sports director of Rot-Weiß Oberhausen told Forecasting: “Every higher-class club has been drawn against a really good opponent in the Lower Rhine Cup round of 16. We have to play against Homberg, Bocholt play ETB, MSV play Velbert, and RWE play Hilden. I’m sure that not all the favorites will make it through. The squad in Hilden is still largely the one that we put together. My Hilden past is added to that. So it’s clear that I’m rooting for VfB and hope that they knock out RWE – also in the interest of RWO.”