15 of 40 match days have been played in the Oberliga Niederrhein. That means just over a third of the games have been played. But two clubs can already plan for the Landesliga.

FSV Duisburg, last in the table, and FC Kray, second to last, feel that nothing is going right in the Oberliga Niederrhein.

Both clubs are already 13 and ten points respectively behind the save shore and you don’t have to be so brave to claim that both FSV and FCK can already take their Landesliga plans for the 2023/2024 season out of the drawer.

After all, what should be the big change that Duisburg and Essen-Kray are suddenly performing? Coaches have already been changed at both clubs, and in Kray the chairman of the board has even resigned. And in the winter break – as the sporting directors Erol Ayar and Rudi Zedi will also know – it is damn difficult to sign good quality players.

On top of that, the Krayers’ financial resources are very limited. That’s why Zedi was already focusing on young, willing, talented players when planning the squad at the beginning of the season.

Kray have only won two games this season – 2:1 in Ratingen and 5:0 against FSV Duisburg. Most recently, the Essen team conceded 1:6, 1:4 and 0:4 – 44 goals conceded after 15 games: that is the second-worst defensive record in the league behind FSV Duisburg (48). It’s hard to pick out positive things that could encourage the Krayers for the rest of the season.

Best defence and offence in the Oberliga Niederrhein

Similar to the situation at Duisburg’s Warbruckstraße. FSV have only managed to win one match this season – a 3:2 victory against TuRU Düsseldorf. The following six results after the TuRU victory were: 1:5, 1:4, 0:5, 3:6, 1:6, 0:1. The Duisburg team has the worst offensive performance (14 goals) and is also the worst scorer (48 goals conceded) in the league.