Third-tier banana skin: HSV's record gives cause for concern! | OneFootball

HSV begin their DFB-Pokal campaign on Monday evening away at SC Verl. In the recent past, they have mostly struggled in matchups with third-division sides.

Since the single-tier 3. Liga was founded for the 2008/09 season, there have been 13 such duels. On nine occasions, the Hanseatic club advanced to the next round. In the other cases, they were knocked out. HSV lost to VfL Osnabrück twice. In September 2009, they were beaten after a dramatic cup tie on penalties, even though they had overturned a 0–2 deficit in the meantime.

About eight years later, the Rothosen were utterly humiliated at the Bremer Brücke — where they would later also regularly struggle in normal second-division play. Despite being a man down for more than 70 minutes, Osnabrück, who incidentally finished that 3. Liga season in 17th place, won 3–1. HSV suffered another heavy defeat in the opening round of the 2020/21 season. The 1–4 loss at Dynamo Dresden is probably remembered above all because of center-back Toni Leistner’s physical attack on a spectator.

Photo: IMAGO

Could HSV be facing extra work in Verl?

HSV also conceded four goals in the summer of 2021, when they took the lead twice away at Karlsruher SC but had nothing left to offer in the second half of a 2–4 defeat. Beyond that, their victories were mostly far from convincing. Only the 4–0 win at Hallescher FC (2016/17) and the 3–0 win at SV Wehen Wiesbaden (2018/19) were clear-cut affairs.

Five matches required extra time or even a penalty shootout, in which goalkeepers such as René Adler or Matheo Raab emerged as match-winners. In the other two wins in regular time, the margin was just one goal each time.

Nur die Raute – All the news about HSV

HSV have not yet faced SC Verl. However, they should go into the match wary — not only because of their previous encounters with third-division clubs, but also because of the quality of the opponent, who favor an attacking style of play and stick to it regardless of who they are facing. The East Westphalians also have positive memories of the DFB-Pokal. In the 2019/20 season, they reached the round of 16 after beating FC Augsburg and Holstein Kiel, before narrowly losing 0–1 to Union Berlin.

Photo: IMAGO

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.