RW Essen – HSV

German DFB Pokal Round 1
Essen, August 13, 13:00 CET

The ideal opportunity for the HSV strikers to prove their quality and good form again, is the visit to the RW Essen field on Sunday, at the start of the German national cup (DFB Pokal).
In the previous round of the 2nd Bundesliga, when visiting Karlsruher, HSV dropped the victory in stoppage time (2:2). Before that, in the match against the famous rival Schalke at the start of the 2nd Bundesliga, the Hamburg team won 5:3. Overall, the impression is that they are currently the main candidates for a return to the elite Bundesliga. On that road, HSV wants to play offensively – and example is last, very difficult away game, against the Karlsruher, when Hamburg team had 13 shots (six on target).
What is the problem for HSV is the defense. This team conceded goals in nine of the last ten away games. However, RW Essen seems like an ideal opponent for them at the moment. The team from the 3rd League has only one triumph from the last six games at home.
In July, HSV played four friendly matches, in each of which both teams managed to score at least one goal and a total of 19 goals were scored! Quite simply, this is a team that insists on attacking - at the cost of giving the opponents enough good chances.
RW Essen, the proud historic club that won the only trophy in the DFB Pokal 70 years ago, is without a triumph in its last six games. The impression of the German public is that HSV has already secured a place in the next round of the DFB Pokal - potentially with a convincing triumph.
In the last six games, RW Essen conceded ten goals, against generally much lower quality and offensively less potent opponents than HSV. If the visitors manage to score a goal in the earlier phase of the match, the host would be threatened with an extremely convincing defeat.
To some extent, the problem for the guests is that they will not count on players like Sebastian Schonlau (calf injury), Ludovit Reis (shoulder issues), William Mikelbrencis (hip injury)... However, for coach Tim Walter, it is always important that the team plays systematically, with a clear plan of attack - so the absence of players was not felt in the previous HSV matches. On the other hand, RW Essen coach Christoph Dabrowski has no problems with injuries.
HSV, as a big German club and former European champion who now plays in the lower tier of the league competition, wants to play as long as possible in the DFB Pokal this season and show that their quality is already in the ranks of the elite Bundesliga teams. The team had a whole week to prepare for the match against RW Essen, the rested and fit HSV players will be looking for a win and a convincing game... Which is an opportunity for a new match with a large number of goals for this team from the north of Germany.