Elversberg – Fortuna

In a meeting of two equal rivals, the more experienced guests will be closer to success

It's hard to believe that the brash and rather authentic Elversberg were still playing in the German Southwest Regional League, Germany's fourth division, in the 2021/2022 season. Under Horst Steffen's leadership, the team finished in first place there at the third attempt, and then went on to take on a much tougher task - winning the Third League. Having found themselves in the Second Bundesliga last season, Elversberg took a break and effectively restructured the management to the realities of Germany's second division. Having finished eleventh in the league, Steffen's men were not among the favourites for the current season, but have already exceeded expectations. Fortuna Düsseldorf somehow miraculously failed to qualify for the Bundesliga last season, giving another year in the elite division to Bochum. The first half of the current championship "F95" spent at the level of the best clubs in the division, but since December has stalled badly. Bookmakers have identified the home team as the favourites for the upcoming meeting, offering odds of 1.76 on their victory. Elversberg have spent almost the entire season at the same level, never once allowing serious crisis periods. Only once in the current championship the team lost two in a row. In the last ten rounds, Elversberg won five times, drew four times and unexpectedly lost to Proyssen Münster in their home walls. Last two matches became for the wards of Steffen won - with a total score of 9:1 defeated Regensburg and Hannover 96. These successes put Elversberg in third place in the standings with a similar number of points - 47 each. Fortuna Düsseldorf have been on an almost championship-winning schedule since the start of the year. While the other promotion contenders were suffering defeats, Fortuna, along with Hamburg, were steadily picking up points. As a result, in six matches in January and February against serious opponents, Daniel Thione's men won three and drew three times. Since the end of February, Fortuna's fortunes have deteriorated a bit - three out of six rounds ended in defeats. However, in April F95 still decided to fight for promotion by winning two in a row. The visitors have no right to be defeated by a direct rival, given their high ambitions.