With SV Wehen Wiesbaden, the third best offensive team (53 goals) travels to Rot-Weiss Essen on Saturday. Two players were responsible for almost half of the goals.
The last few weeks have been filled with constant ups and downs for SV Wehen Wiesbaden. After the third division club got off to an excellent start with four wins and a draw after the winter break, coach Markus Kauczinski’s team allowed itself a period of weakness and lost four of the following five matches.
Last weekend’s 3-0 home win against direct rivals SV Waldhof Mannheim put the SVWW back on track in time for the away game at Rot-Weiss Essen.
The Hessians are currently fourth after 28 games – this position would be enough for promotion relegation at the end of the season due to the good position of Freiburg II (not eligible for promotion).
For RWE, it’s all about continuing the positive home streak of eleven unbeaten games and collecting important points in the fight to stay in the league. Essen coach Christoph Dabrowski calls for a courageous performance:
The team is the match and must light the fire. By that I mean the fans and the stadium. The momentum must always come from us. We can go into a home game with confidence – no matter against which opponent.
Christoph Dabrowski.
“It depends on our conviction and charisma, how we go into the game. If you explain it with a metaphor: the team is the match and must light the fire. By that I mean the fans and the stadium. The impulse must always come from us. We can go into a home game with self-confidence – regardless of the opponent. Then we can deliver thrilling games at the Hafenstraße and put an opponent under pressure so that they feel what a force there is here. That will be our goal. “
The promoted team will have to pay particular attention to Wehen goal scorer Benedict Hollerbach. The 21-year-old is the clear difference-maker in the visitors’ attack and with 14 goals in the season – behind Dresden’s Ahmet Arslan (16) – the second best scorer in the 3. Liga. This year, the speedy centre-forward has already scored eight goals, including two trebles.
At Hafenstraße, Hollerbach’s congenial strike partner Ivan Prtajin also returns to the squad after his yellow suspension. The 1.89-metre tall Croatian already scored twice in the first leg (3:1) and has eleven goals for the season. Together, Hollerbach and Prtajin have scored 25 times. That makes them the top duo in the 3rd division.
The RWE coach knows that his defence will be particularly challenged there: “Wiesbaden is a super team that is playing for promotion. They are compact and work well against the ball. The opponent distributes the goal contributions on several shoulders. The ratio of both strikers then entitles a team to get more wins. They have players in their own ranks who can create game-changing situations. “
