Successful start for Farke?
The coaches of the German Bundesliga clubs have less time than usual for preparation due to the upcoming Winter World Cup in Qatar and the resulting tightly scheduled fixtures. RW Essen and Mönchengladbach have already been preparing for the season since the end of June.
After the dismissal of the unsuccessful former coach Adi Hütter, the Foals want to attack again at the top under the new coach Daniel Farke in the next Bundesliga season. Rot-Weiß Essen, on the other hand, have little reason to change coaches in the new season. After the championship in the Regionalliga West, they will be playing in paid professional football for the first time in over 40 years in the new season.
The first test match for the upcoming season was won against the underclass Kickers from Emden with 5:0. Now the first real test for coach Fleischer’s team awaits them against the first division team from Gladbach.
RW Essen – Statistics & current form
There is great euphoria around Rot-Weiß Essen at the moment. After narrowly missing out on the championship in previous years, they were able to keep their closest rivals from Münster at bay in the season finale. The decision was razor-thin in the end. Only due to the better goal difference compared to Preußen Münster, the team was able to celebrate promotion to the third division and is now back in paid professional football for the first time in over 40 years.
It is possible that coach Fleischer has awakened a sleeping giant. Because RWE’s stadium, fans and environment are definitely at least third-division ready. And from a sporting point of view, the team can definitely be expected to stay in the third division. Nonetheless, in their first year in the higher league, the only thing that matters to the promoted team is staying in the league. For the time being, Essen will not be aiming higher than that.
Offensive was the trump card in promotion year
With 84 goals scored, RWE had the best offensive performance in the Regionalliga West last season. This strength was an important reason for the promotion. In addition, they failed to score in only two home games. The fact that they can keep up with higher-class teams was proven most recently in the DFB Cup of the 2020/21 season, when they advanced to the quarter-finals and defeated first-division teams Arminia Bielefeld and Leverkusen at home on the way there. So the bet on a double chance for RW Essen against Gladbach could well work out, and the Essen team can at least be expected to score a goal or two. Coach Fleischer will have to do without Niemeyer, Haiduk and Kesim against Gladbach.
Predicted line-up of RW Essen:
Golz, Bastians, Heber, Plechaty, Herzenbruch, Young, Kefkir, Dürholz, Harenbrock, Janjic, Engelmann
Last matches of RW Essen:
Friendly club matches
01/07/2022 – RW Essen 2 – 4 Gladbach
Regionalliga West
14/05/2022 – RW Essen 2 – 0 RW Ahlen
07/05/2022 – SV Rödinghausen 0 – 3 RW Essen
30/04/2022 – RW Essen 3 – 1 FC Wegberg-Beeck
23/04/2022 – Sportfreunde Lotte 0 – 3 RW Essen
Gladbach – Statistics & current form
A disappointing season for the Foals, who started the season with Champions League ambitions. At times, they were even close to the relegation zone and the fans also voiced their displeasure about the work ethic of some of the players. Some of these players, who were very disappointing both in terms of performance and appearance, are now expected to leave the club during the summer break. The unsuccessful former coach Hütter was also dismissed. Now the club is planning a new start under Farke.
Farke must fix the defensive problems
61 goals conceded in the last Bundesliga season. Too many to aim for higher goals. So coach Farke has to turn this screw. The goal of the sporting reorientation is to align the team with Farke’s style, which includes possession football and dominance, but also defensive stability. It is also important for Farke to have a very good fitness of his team in order to implement his dominant style, so that his players will face some sweaty units in the upcoming training camp, which will take place as usual at Lake Tegernsee.
Before the training camp, Farke will have the opportunity to observe his players under competition conditions in Essen. Just like his counterpart Fleischer, he will certainly try out a few things and experiment with formation, personnel and line-up. At RW Essen against Gladbach, the prediction of a few goals in the course of the game is likely to come true, as both teams are not necessarily already solid defensively due to the circumstances. The offensive potential of both teams is well known anyway. Farke will only be missing Jantschke in the first test match.
Predicted line-up of Gladbach:
Sommer, Bensebaini, Friedrich, Beyer, Netz, Neuhaus, Hofmann, Lainer, Stindl, Embolo, Herrmann
Last games played by Gladbach:
Friendly club matches
01/07/2022 – RW Essen 2 – 4 Gladbach
Bundesliga
14/05/2022 – Gladbach 5 – 1 Hoffenheim
08/05/2022 – Eintracht Frankfurt 1 – 1 Gladbach
03/05/2022 – Gladbach 3 – 1 RB Leipzig
23/04/2022 – SC Freiburg 3 – 3 Gladbach
RW Essen – Gladbach Direct comparison / H2H balance
The two West German clubs have faced each other a total of 41 times so far in various leagues, from the top division to the Bundesliga, as well as in the DFB Cup. The overall record is led by Essen with 19 victories. The Foals have won 15 games. The points have only been shared seven times. The goal difference of 91:79 also speaks in favour of Essen. The last time they met in a competitive match was in the first round of the DFB Cup in the 2017/18 season. At that time, Mönchengladbach won 2:1 in Essen.
RW Essen – Gladbach Tip
After RW Essen has already played two test matches against an underclass opponent and a national team, in which they experimented a lot and also tested some players from their own U19, the first real test against a Bundesliga team is coming up. For Gladbach, on the other hand, it is the first test match and at the same time the debut of new coach Farke, before they go to the training camp in Tegernsee. As both teams will certainly experiment and the final coordination is still missing in the current state of preparation, we predict that both sides will score against Gladbach. Not least because of the offensive potential of both teams.
The last time RW Essen took part in the DFB Cup, they showed that the supposed underdog is always capable of giving a Bundesliga team a leg up. It is therefore quite possible that this will also be the case against Borussia from Mönchengladbach, who are in a state of upheaval and are also playing their first test match under new coach Farke.
