ETB Schwarz-Weiß Essen, currently in third place, welcomes the 14th-placed team in the Oberliga Niederrhein. The guests from the area will welcome the guest without six players.

ETB Schwarz-Weiß Essen are among the leading teams in the Oberliga Niederrhein and would like to improve their good starting position on Sunday against 1. FC Kleve.

After the home win against Ratingen, Damian Apfeld’s successor Julian Stöhr followed up with a 2-2 draw in the top game at SC St. Tönis. Now the ETB coach is aiming for the next home win.

The two teams have already met once this season, when ETB traveled to Kleve in the second round of the Lower Rhine Cup. After goals from Niko Bosnjak and Felix Geisler, Essen won 2-0 in Schwanenstadt.

“I expect a completely different game on Sunday than against Ratingen and St. Tönis. We will probably have more of the ball, because Kleve has always relied on its transition play in recent games. They defend very well and we just need to be patient. The results of the last few weeks, where they won against Ratingen and played 0-0 against Schonnebeck, have shown that. The position in the table and the number of points are somewhat misleading. They are very robust, we have to find the gaps first and then watch out for their counterattacks. We want to win on Sunday, that should be our aim. We want to win our second home game in a row and then go into the break with a good feeling and then into the top game against Schonnebeck,” explains Stöhr.

The ETB coach has to do without Nico Lucas, Jan Corsten, Armen Shavershyan, Florian Usein, Christian Gojani and Denzel Oteng Adjei due to injury.

After the game against Kleve, the ETB has a two-week break due to the Sunday of remembrance. Then it comes to the absolute top game and Essen city derby at the Schonnebeck club – Sunday, December 1, 3 p.m. Before the winter break, ETB will play against Kleve and Schonnebeck, as well as against VfB Homberg and TVD Velbert – both games will take place at the Uhlenkrug stadium.