Third division club Rot-Weiss Essen is the guest of Dynamo Dresden today. These are the teams the coaches are sending onto the pitch.

Top game, full house, great atmosphere – all this is expected on Saturday afternoon in the Rudolf-Harbig Stadium when Dynamo Dresden and Rot-Weiss Essen face off.

Even though both teams suffered a bitter defeat in their last game – RWE lost to Ulm (0-2), Dresden in Aue (1-2) – the euphoria ahead of the traditional duel is great.

Meanwhile, an eventful week lies behind Essen’s head coach Christoph Dabrowski. Just two days ago, the former Bundesliga professional prematurely extended his contract until 2026.

In the first game after his contract extension, Dabrowski changed his starting eleven in three positions: Lucas Brumme and Mustafa Kourouma are back from injury and suspension for the injured Eric Voufack (torn syndesmosis ligament) and the suspended José-Enrique Ríos Alonso. Ron Berlinski also replaces Leonardo Vonic in the center forward position.

What the coaches said before the game:

Markus Anfang (Dynamo Dresden coach): “In training, we placed a lot of emphasis on toughness and duels. It’s been a bit of a shake-up, but that happens. We have to work all of this out again. This is not the time for us to be celebrating football. We have to bring the basic virtues onto the pitch. Essen are currently doing better than us, as are Ulm and Münster.”

Christoph Dabrowski (Rot-Weiss Essen manager): “I think Dresden are the best team in the league in terms of football. They show that in every game. They have a clear idea, a clear plan. The basis for us is to act as a very compact team and to be intensive in our running. We want to hurt Dresden with pinpricks and create a certain unrest in the stadium. But we don’t just want to work against the ball, we want to play football bravely, make the opponents run in our phases of ball possession and create goal scoring chances.”