Top game in Elversberg: SVE welcome table leaders Paderborn
On Saturday at 1 p.m., third-placed team SV Elversberg will be hosting the table leaders from Paderborn for a top match in the URSAPHARM Arena. Both coaches have huge respect for each other.
SV Elversberg are continuing what has been a series of high-end matches in the 2. Bundesliga. Saturday 30 November brings their next top duel in the form of a home game against SC Paderborn 07. Kick-off is at 1 p.m. at URSAPHARM Arena on Kaiserlinde. This will be a real cracker of a match: the current table leaders face the third-placed team – a meeting of giants that many did not see coming in this form this season.
After a strong 2:0 away win against Fortuna Düsseldorf last weekend, coach Horst Steffen’s team are heading into the match with wind in their sails. ‘A win always feels good, so we are feeling good as we await Paderborn and hoping to take that feeling with us onto the pitch on Saturday’, Steffen explained of the team’s current mood. Paderborn, who moved up to the top of the table on the last day of play, have been impressive with stable performances since the beginning of the season. ‘The way that they play is always tailored somewhat to their opponent, but they are fundamentally building on a very reliable base structure’, was Steffen’s analysis. ‘Paderborn have a good structure, good processes, and a good self-image. When a team only loses one game in thirteen and are top at the table, it shows that lots of things are working well’, the SVE coach noted. ‘Paderborn are also ahead when it comes to running data. If they make mistakes, they can compensate whilst still attacking forwards. That is one of Paderborn’s strengths.’ This duel against the table leaders will therefore be ‘a challenge, a real yardstick, and one that we are looking forward to’, Horst Steffen said. The Saarland team, who have a seven-game unbeaten streak, will be able to draw on the same squad as recently in Düsseldorf.
This duel against the table leaders will therefore be ‘a challenge, a real yardstick, and one that we are looking forward to’
Horst Steffen
The opposing team are also expecting this to be an exciting match. Paderborn’s coach Lukas Kwasniok, who once coached 1. FC Saarbrücken in Saarland, was full of praise for SVE: ‘In my view, SV Elversberg are the best team in the league’. Kwasniok is particularly impressed with the Saarland team’s style of play and consistency. ‘They have a clear plan, good focus and a good coach. They have also already shown this season that they can handle player absences very well. This is combined with an enthusiasm for the game, as well as high intensity.’
However, the general public often still see Elversberg as the team that gives the favourites a run for their money, rather than a top team in their own right. Kwasniok does not understand this: ‘If Düsseldorf, Hamburg or Köln had put in this performance, everyone would be saying that they are one of the absolute favourites for the championship. That is how I would describe them, a real insider’s tip for the top three spots.’ Kwasniok emphasised this way of thinking in an interview with Saarbrücker Zeitung: ‘Horst Steffen is an experienced coach. I have come across him and SVE already in the Regionalliga. He has is own philosophy of play. The club has since gained the identity I mentioned. I have watched all of their games this season. If you look at their style of play and performance without knowing who is playing, you quickly come to the conclusion that they must be a top team. The only surprise comes when you realise the lack of weight behind the club’s name.’
This duel between the two ‘provincial clubs’ of Elversberg and Paderborn is also a meeting of two underdogs who show the supposed big boys of the first division how it’s done. In recent years, clubs such as 1. FC Heidenheim, FC St. Pauli and Holstein Kiel have demonstrated that success can be achieved without the pull of a big city or a huge budget. ‘Neither club is particularly in the spotlight. Both clubs have specialised in obtaining players from lower leagues or players who have not been that successful elsewhere. These players are then developed, and in the best cases sold on. This is part of these clubs’ identity’, Kwasniok explained in conversation with Saarbrücker Zeitung.
On Saturday, SV Elversberg will be seeking once again to defeat a table leader – in the home setting of the URSAPHARM Arena on Kaiserlinde. There is huge anticipation for this challenging task. The question of who will edge ahead will be answered on Saturday from 1 p.m.