Rot-Weiss Essen travel to the basement clash against Hansa Rostock. In defense, players who have been left out of the lineup recently will get their chance.

It was possibly the turning point of the game: in the middle of the first half, Rot-Weiss Essen’s Julian Eitschberger fouled Berkan Taz from Verl. Referee Nico Fuchs first showed a yellow card, then corrected himself to red. RWE lost the game 1-3 – and Eitschberger also lost the game for the basement clash against Hansa Rostock on Saturday, October 26, 2 p.m.

This means that there is a real bottleneck on the defensive flanks. As RWE coach Christoph Dabrowski announced at the match day press conference, Lucas Brumme will not be fit, as was already the case against Verl. To make matters worse, central defender Tobias Kraulich, who has also been a set player recently, will also be out.

“He caught the ankle on a ball during the final phase and twisted it. However, I assume that it’s not too bad and that he’ll be ready to play again next week. He has a sprain and unfortunately the pain is so severe at the moment that he will be out of action. Otherwise, everyone came through the game against Verl in one piece and is ready for action,” Dabrowski revealed. Only the long-term injured Ekin Celebi and Moussa Doumbouya are still out.

The bottleneck in defense opens up chances for players who have been left behind recently, said Dabrowski. It would be obvious, for example, that Mustafa Kourouma gets a new chance in the center of defense, replacing Kraulich. “In principle, a midweek always offers the option of bringing one or two fresh players into the team.”

So it is quite possible that Dabrowski could also make changes away from the forced rotation in defense. In Rostock, RWE’s direction for the coming weeks is at stake.

While Essen is just above the line with twelve points, Hansa is in 18th place with ten points. If RWE wins, Christoph Dabrowski’s team will be five points ahead of Rostock. If they lose, on the other hand, the Hanseatic team would overtake Essen. Around 2000 RWE fans will be there.