DFB-Pokal Preview: Hertha BSC vs. SV Elversberg

Preview, team news and predicted lineups as Hertha BSC host SV Elversberg at the Olympiastadion in their DFB-Pokal second-round tie on Tuesday.

Hertha BSC 

Hertha enter Pokal week in good form, having won four of their last six matches, including back-to-back home victories that ended their winless run at the Olympiastadion. Most recently, Stefan Leitl’s side secured a dramatic 1-0 win over Fortuna Düsseldorf thanks to Maurice Krattenmacher’s 96th-minute strike.

The Berliners booked their spot in the second round back in August with a hard-fought penalty shootout win away at Preußen Münster. Despite enjoying just 30% possession and being second best for much of the game, Hertha held firm and advanced after Charalampos Makridis missed from the spot.

Last season, Hertha reached the Round of 16 before bowing out away to FC Köln. They’ve made it to at least that stage in seven of their last ten Pokal campaigns, and even reached the semi-finals in 2015/16 – a record they’ll look to build on this time around.

Head coach Leitl is optimistic about his team’s chances in Tuesday’s tie: 

“We are preparing the boys for a really good opponent who rightly ranks high up in the league – and that’s no surprise to me. Nevertheless, we are convinced that we can win this game. Because we are in good form at the moment. But we need a disciplined performance. And we need a lot of passion”

Team news: 

No new injury concerns have emerged from the weekend. Deyo Zeefuik, Dawid Kownacki, Leon Jensen and Pascal Klemens remain sidelined.

SV Elversberg 

Vincent Wagner’s Elversberg have made an excellent start to the season, once again establishing themselves early in the promotion race. However, they travel to Berlin looking to respond after their 2-0 defeat at Arminia Bielefeld – their first loss in eight league games.

Die Elv advanced to this stage with a controlled 1-0 victory away at Ulm, courtesy of Felix Keidel’s 73rd-minute winner. Wagner’s side dominated proceedings, restricting the hosts to zero shots on target – a testament to their defensive organisation.

This is Elversberg’s 12th DFB-Pokal campaign, though they’ve yet to make it past the second round. They’ll be determined to rewrite that record after falling at this same stage to Bayer Leverkusen last year.

Team news: 

With no fresh injury concerns reported, only Luis Seifert and Luca Pfeiffer will miss out for Elversberg. 

H-2-H record 

Elversberg boast a dominant record in this fixture, winning the previous four meetings including a 0-2 away win in August. For Stefan Leitl, this clash also carries a personal subplot: the Hertha coach has never beaten Elversberg in five previous attempts throughout his career.

Predicted lineups

Hertha BSC (4-2-3-1): Ernst (GK) – Gechter, Leistner, Dardai, Karbownik – Eichhorn, Seguin – Winkler, Krattenmacher, Reese – Grønning 

SV Elversberg (4-2-3-1): Kristof (GK) – Keidel, Pinckert, Rohr, Mickelson – Malanga, Poreba – Stange, Conté, Zimmerschied – Ebnoutalib