Déjà vu for SV Werder: The Green-Whites travel to SC Paderborn 07 for the second round of the DFB-Pokal, just as they did two years ago. This Wednesday evening (30/10, 18:00 CET) head coach Ole Werner and his side are hoping to progress on this occasion and avenge the defeat suffered in Paderborn in 2022.
Squad news: Jens Stage (calf), Skelly Alvero (knee) and Niklas Stark (muscular issue) will all miss the cup tie through injury. In addition, Amos Pieper will be absent from the game as he is still serving a suspension after he was red carded against Viktoria Köln in the 2023/24 edition of the competition.
Ole Werner on the opposition: “We were unsuccessful here last time out, and we want to change that this year. We aren’t thinking about what happened here two years ago. You always have to expect that the game might go a little crazy, that’s happened to us in the past against Paderborn. Over the years, they’ve played attacking and attractive football and don’t go hiding.”
The opposition: After being relegated from the top flight in 2019/20, Paderborn have established themselves in Bundesliga 2 and are currently in their fifth season in the second tier, led by Lukas Kwasniok, who has been in charge since summer 2021. SCP have successfully been able to find replacements for key players who have departed the club, be it Sirlord Conteh, now of 1. FC Heidenheim, or previous examples such as Ron Schallenberg (now of FC Schalke 04) or Florent Muslija (SC Freburg). Kwasniok develops his players in key positions and lets the new talent slot smoothly into his game plan. Already this season, players like Filip Bilbija (six goal involvements), 19-year-old young talent Aaron Zehnter (five goal involvements) or returning player Sven Michel, who impressed when netting a brace in a recent 2-1 win over Köln, have shone this season.
????️ Ole Werner on the last cup clash with Paderborn:
— SV Werder Bremen EN (@werderbremen_en) October 28, 2024
"We weren't able to win the last meeting and we want a different result this time around. What happened in that game two years ago won't change that." #werder#scpsvwpic.twitter.com/IYRmmaLtFZ
The journey to round two: Whilst the Green-Whites overcame FC Energie Cottbus thanks to a Keke Topp hat-trick to win 3-1 and progress to the second round, Wednesday’s hosts Paderborn had to deal with their first team from a Hanseatic city as they kicked off their cup campaign with a 4-0 win over fourth-tier side Bremer SV. Werder have been warned: SCP have reached the third round of the competition in three of the last four years, defeating three Bundesilga sides in SC Freiburg, SV Werder and Union Berlin in the process.
Recent meetings: Goals are guaranteed when these two sides meet. There have been 31 goals in seven matches between SVW and SCP, which have taken place in the DFB-Pokal, the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2, with Werder netting 18 times and SCP on 13 occasions. There was a flurry of goals the second time Werder played Paderborn in the 2021/22 Bundesliga 2 season, as in a rollercoaster of a game, Werder came back from 3-1 down to win 4-3.
