Elversberg face challenging task on the Alm
SV Elversberg are heading to their away game against Arminia Bielefeld with plenty of self-confidence but also respect for their opponents. This fixture in East Westphalia kicks off a multi-match week for Vincent Wagner’s team, with three official matches within seven days. The 2. Bundesliga table leaders are up against an opponent who are creating a stir once again in the SchücoArena after last year’s fairytale season.
SV Elversberg have a very special week ahead. Three matches in seven days – a multi-match week prompted by the DFB Cup – will demand the very best from Vincent Wagner’s team. Things kick off on Saturday at 1 p.m. with an away game against Arminia Bielefeld, a promoted team who have demonstrated that they are not content to be dismissed as newcomers this season. In the SchücoArena, which will be packed to the rafters this weekend, the Saarland players can expect an opponent with weight, history, and sporting development that few in East Westphalia believed possible.
Last season was like a football fairytale for Arminia Bielefeld. Following relegation from the second division in 2023, manager Mitch Kniat shaped an unsettled team into a title holder and cup sensation. Bielefeld confidently won the third division and also made it to the DFB Cup final, where they put up a respectable fight against VfB Stuttgart. ‘Bielefeld’s last starting lineup contained eight players who were in the DFB Cup final a few months ago and played a good match against VfB Stuttgart. Whatever happens, this will be a very intense game’, Elversberg’s manager Vincent Wagner said. ‘It will be important that we absorb this and don’t just play intense football ourselves, but instead incorporate our playful elements.’
A look at the season so far shows that this is not just talk: Bielefeld have built on their success from past season, marking their second-division return by celebrating 5:1 against Fortuna Düsseldorf and 2:0 against Holstein Kiel. Their 1:0 cup defeat of first-division team Werder Bremen also shows that Kniat’s team are able to overcome even top-quality opponents. Although they have also suffered defeats in recent weeks, the underlying feelings in Bielefeld have remained intact – buoyed up by a full stadium, a united environment and a style of play built on intensity and passion.
Kniat expects a difficult afternoon of football. ‘Elversberg are a very good team with very good setup. They pose a difficult task for any opponent and continually find solutions with the ball’, the Bielefeld manager said. ‘If they are given deep space, they consistently exploit it. They also have a strong back line and defend with passion.’ His own team will therefore need to demonstrate a ‘stable defence’ and a unified presence: ‘We will need to rise to the challenge, manage more stable defending than in recent weeks, and not give them too many opportunities. If we push ourselves to our limits and perform as we did last season and at the start of this season, this could be a truly great match.’
For Bielefeld, this home game falls in the middle of a period that sees the club seeking balance between euphoria and the everyday grind. ‘We have lost matches, but we all know that we as a club are one single unit – the team, the fans and all those around us. That is our greatest strength at the moment’, Kniat noted. In terms of staffing, on Saturday he will have to manage without Jeredy Hiltermann, Stefano Russo and Roberts Uldrikis. Whether or not Marvin Mehlem and Joel Felix are fit to play will be a last-minute decision.
Whilst the home team are hoping for stability, Elversberg are arriving with a remarkable run under their belt. The table leaders have chalked up seven wins, one draw and just one loss in their first mine matches – 22 points, which has not been seen in the 2. Bundesliga for eight years. Most recently, SVE demolished SpVgg Greuther Fürth 6:0 with a demonstration of their current versatility and efficiency. Their success is built on a mixture of effectiveness and structure, as well as on a team that operates as a collective but also boasts individual quality.
The core of the win against Fürth was once again Younes Ebnoutalib. The 22-year-old, who was still playing in the Hessenliga at the beginning of the year, scored a flawless hat trick as part of this runaway victory. He is now topping the second-division goal-scorer list with nine goals in nine matches. ‘I would never have scored all those goals without the fantastic crosses and passes from my teammates’, Ebnoutalib said after his gala performance, putting a sense of unity above his own success. Goalkeeper Nicolas Kristof also emphasised the team’s cohesion:
We are happy to remain the underdogs, but we are also working our way up to favourite status – and we are happy with that too.
Wagner remains down-to-earth. The manager, who came to Elversberg in the summer from Hoffenheim’s U23s to replace Horst Steffen, is known for his modest response to top performances. He described the 6:0 against Fürth as a ‘good match’ and added: ‘Very good in terms of result, good-minus in terms of content’. His interpretation of the statistics also remained typically Wagner: ‘We scored three goals too many’, he said about the xG value, ‘and Fürth one too few. It wasn’t that easy.’
This analytical, down-to-earth attitude is a key part of the team, as is the self-confidence with which they perform week after week. The manager also cites staying in this division as their aim for the season: ‘There are still 18 points to go – the countdown has begun.’ He emphasised the division’s tight structure and the vagaries of a long season. ‘The league is so brutal, so tight – it just takes two players getting injured at the wrong time’, Wagner noted. However, he added that even so, there is a lot that his team can achieve.
The figures support this image of a team at the top of the second division. Elversberg has scored an average of 2.4 goals per match – the highest in the division. Similarly impressively, nearly a third of the 22 goals scored so far resulted from set pieces. This efficiency and variability makes the Saarland team difficult to predict. On the other hand, in Bielefeld they are facing a team that also focuses on set pieces and compact play – making for a duel that will most likely come down to the little details, pace and precision at key moments.
This is Elversberg‘s first ever appearance in the SchücoArena.
We are really looking forward to it; a great match in a great stadium – but it will also be a big task
Wagner said. The squad that will be deployed on Saturday remains up in the air. Carlo Sickinger and Daniel Pantschenko are currently out due to illness. The multi-match week could also prompt rotation, especially given the upcoming cup and league games.
The duel with Arminia Bielefeld is therefore more than just another step along the road towards the magic 40-point mark. It will also serve as a yardstick for the stability of a team that has rapidly transformed from a league outsider to a trendsetter – without losing sight of what really matters. In Bielefeld, they face an opponent whose story mirrors this in their own particular way: passionate and determined with a clear plan. Two teams that understand where they have come from – and who will be seeking to demonstrate by the Alm on Saturday how far they have come.