RB Leipzig Will Also Field Goalkeeper Nyland in Essen

RB Leipzig will once again rely on goalkeeper Örjan Nyland for their away DFB Cup match against Rot-Weiss Essen. The Norwegian national team goalkeeper made his return to the RB goal in the 4-0 Bundesliga win against SV Elversberg and kept a clean sheet. He will once again replace Belgian Maarten Vandevoordt in goal for RB in the second-round Cup match this Tuesday (6:00 p.m./Sky) in Essen. “He did well, but we had already planned the substitution that way beforehand, regardless of his performance against Elversberg,” said RB head coach Martín Demichelis.

Defensive leader Willi Orban has also already been assured of playing time against the third-place team in the 3. Liga. “Given Maxime Estève’s situation, he’ll probably have to start again. There are moments when Willi and I chat, but not about sitting out. He always wants to be out there,” Demichelis said with a smile about the model professional Orban. 

According to Coach Demichelis, Leipzig faces “a tough challenge at Hafenstraße—we know that for sure. We’re up against a 3. Liga team that will give it their all in this game—that’s exactly what the cup is all about. We have to play a smart game.”

Essen still undefeated at home

The Red-Whites, currently in third place in the 3rd League, are also still undefeated at home, having dropped only one point. In the first round, Uwe Koschinat’s team knocked out Bundesliga relegation side FC St. Pauli (2–0). The 1953 cup champion last reached the DFB Cup final in 1994, losing 1–3 to Werder Bremen. In the 2020–2021 season, Essen reached the quarterfinals once again. Since then, they’ve been eliminated in the first round every time, most recently two years ago with a 1–4 loss to Leipzig. And RB has won all of its last 18 cup matches against lower-division opponents.

However, the 2022 and 2023 cup champions are currently plagued by a road curse: they have lost their last five games across all competitions (4-19 goals). Sports Director Marcel Schäfer recently made it clear that this is not the club’s standard. So far, the only away win this season came against Regionalliga side Eintracht Trier (6–0) in the first round of the cup. Since then, RB has suffered defeats in Bremen (1–3), in Como against the Champions League debutants (1–4), in Leverkusen (0–2), in Munich (1–6), and at Real Madrid (1–4).