First home game of the season for SV Elversberg

On Saturday in the URSAPHARM arena, SV Elversberg face 1. FC Köln – a relegated first-division team with the most valuable squad in the second division, despite the transfer ban.

First home game, sold out, and against 1. FC Köln – what more could you ask for? ‘Köln are definitely the top team in the league’, says Horst Steffen, to remove any doubt about who are the favourites for the match. ‘So we are excited to be able to welcome them to our home on Saturday, and are looking forward to the setting and a full stadium. However, our task against Köln will of course be an extremely difficult one.’

Köln are definitely the top team in the league

And although the Cologne team have already lost their first home game against Hamburg SV, they played well and were at points even the better team. ‘They played a dominant game. Right through to the end, I felt that Köln were the ones applying the pressure. They are athletically strong and good at pressing. ‘You can see Köln’s plan, which they are trying to actively implement.’ The new man on the Köln touchline, Gerhard Struber, has given the relegated team a new identity and embraced the task, even though the Cologne team are not allowed to sign any new players. Despite their initial defeat, Struber and his team are travelling to Saarland with confidence. ‘We know that Elversberg are an opponent who can beat major teams at home, so we understand what we have to do. We know that our opponents are very much defined by ball possession, not unlike HSV. We must therefore keep our hands on the wheel throughout and offer a committed performance, as this will make things difficult for Elversberg and easier for us, if we give our all.’ He also stated that there will not be any major changes to the team: ‘There will not be any major changes to the starting eleven, we might make one or two tweaks. I still have huge confidence in the squad and we are not under pressure to make significant staffing changes’, Struber noted two days before the game.

This means that Horst Steffen is also anticipating a strong opponent – but this does not frighten him. Time and again, his team has proven able to defeat greater teams: ‘We have already managed things that nobody thought we could. We hope to do the same with this match’. Steffen also has plenty of positive takeaways from the game in Magdeburg: ‘We played a decent game for significant portions of the match. For around half an hour, we struggled to develop our game and had to do a lot of defending. Nevertheless, the team fought hard, gave their all, and were very good runners’, Steffen notes: ‘I am confident that the boys will build on their performance and further improve’. They will have to – but they can, and have already proven this in past games against big names from the 2. Bundesliga.