The best offense in the league, Regionalliga leaders as promoted team: The season could hardly be going better for Sportfreunde Lotte. Bocholt comes to Lotter Kreuz on Saturday (October 19, 2 p.m.).
Sportfreunde Lotte, newly promoted from the Oberliga, are somewhat surprisingly in first place in the Regionalliga West after eleven matchdays. Even successful coach Fabian Lübbers did not expect such a flying start. “Of course, that’s what you hope for. But to have 26 points after eleven games as a promoted team is extraordinary.”
Lübbers adds: “That speaks for the quality we have in the team and, above all, for the hard work the guys put in week after week. We’re obviously delighted, but it would be presumptuous to say we expected it.”
The key to success, he says, is the depth of the squad and the hunger for success, especially among those who don’t always get to play from the start. “You can see that, for example, when we bring on substitutes, like Niklas Determann last week, who scored a goal. It’s not the first time that all the guys are hungry, even those on the bench. It’s not easy for them. Nevertheless, they give their all in training every week and make it extremely difficult for us as the coaching team to pick a starting eleven,” praises the 32-year-old.
Given the current performances and the position in the table, Lübbers is confident: “We want to get the most out of it. We’ve always said it would be nice to play in the DFB Cup again next season. On the one hand, we have the Westphalia Cup and, on the other, the league, where you can qualify as the best Westphalian representative. We want to stick to this goal.”
And Lotte is well on its way to achieving this: its nearest Westphalian league rival, SV Rödinghausen, was recently defeated 3-2 and is now nine points behind the Sportfreunde from Lotte. On Saturday, they face 1. FC Bocholt, who are traveling to Lotter Kreuz with momentum after a 5-1 away win over Wuppertaler SV.
Bocholt knows the situation Lotte finds itself in. Last season, the Münsterland club was the autumn champion as a promoted team before losing the lead in the second half of the season. The shaky start has now led to a change of coach: Sunay Acar takes over from Björn Mehnert.
“That makes the preparation a bit more difficult for us as a coaching team, of course,” admits Lübbers. “They didn’t finish runners-up last season for nothing. If you look at their last few games, they have become much more stable. Twelve goals in three games clearly show the quality they have in attack. On the other hand, they have also conceded nine goals in those three games. That’s the approach we’ll take to hurt our opponents.”