Rot-Weiss Essen vs Holstein Kiel prediction, preview, team news and more | DFB-Pokal Cup 2020-21

Essen and Kiel both have caused big upsets this season

Rot-Weiss Essen hosts Holstein Kiel in an exciting battle of underdogs at the Stadion Essen in a DFB-Pokal quarter-final on Wednesday.

The sides reside in the fourth and second tier of German football and have reached this stage after causing some huge upsets.

Essen, into the quarter-finals of the competition for the first time since 1994, beat top-flight sides such as Arminia Bielefeld and Bayer Leverkusen. They saw off last year's runners-up Leverkusen in the previous round following a 2-1 comeback victory in extra time.

They'll next be hoping to reach the last four of the league cup for the first time in 27 years. But standing in their way is another team looking to script history of their own.

Kiel pulled off arguably the biggest result in the competition this season after ousting reigning champions Bayern Munich in the round of 32.

Die Störche held the Bundesliga giants to a 2-2 draw in normal time before triumphing 6-5 on penalties. That result ensured Bayern's earliest exit from the cup in over a decade.

After seeing off Darmstadt in the last round following another shootout victory, Kiel reached their first quarter-finals since 2012. However, they haven't gone beyond this stage since 1942.

Rot-Weiss Essen vs Holstein Kiel Head-To-Head

These sides last met during the 2005-06 season in the lower tier of German football, with each claiming the spoils on their respective home grounds.

🏆💪 Vor uns liegt die @DFB_Pokal-Woche mit dem Duell gegen @Holstein_Kiel am Mittwoch: Davor schaut aber unser ehrenamtlicher Vereinshistoriker Georg Schrepper auf die rot-weisse Bilanz im Viertelfinale 👉 https://t.co/79vHeWopUU#immeRWEiter #nurderrwe #RWEKSV pic.twitter.com/3GGQvO4Yve
— Rot-Weiss Essen (@rot_weiss_essen) February 28, 2021

Rot-Weiss Essen Form Guide (all competitions): W-D-W-W-L

Holstein Kiel Form Guide (all competitions): D-W-W-L-W

Rot-Weiss Essen vs Holstein Kiel Team News

Rot-Weiss Essen

Sandro Plechaty and David Sauerland are out injured, while Amara Conde and Oguzhan Kefkir are sidelined with COVID-19.

Injured: Sandro Plechaty and David Sauerland

Suspended: None

Unavailable: Amara Conde and Oguzhan Kefkir

In dieser Woche steht das Viertelfinale gegen @rot_weiss_essen im @DFB_Pokal an! 🤩 Unseren Vorbericht, die Pressekonferenz und ein Interview mit Kapitän Hauke Wahl findet ihr ab sofort in der KSV-App und auf https://t.co/IJPNOFnTdC: https://t.co/i69QtfTG8i#DFBPokal #KielAhoi pic.twitter.com/HLMmoKjr2b
— Holstein Kiel (@Holstein_Kiel) March 1, 2021

Holstein Kiel

The visitors are likely to be without Johannes van den Bergh, who is currently recovering from a muscle injury. They will also miss Noah Awuku, who's been out with a tendon rupture since September.

Injured: Johannes van den Bergh and Noah Awuku

Suspended: None

Unavailable: None

Rot-Weiss Essen vs Holstein Kiel Predicted XI

Rot-Weiss Essen (5-3-2): Daniel Davari; Jonas Hildebrandt, Daniel Heber, Alexander Hahn, Felix Herzenbruch, Kevin Grund; Felix Backszat, Dennis Grote, Marco Kehl-Gomez; Isaiah Young, Simon Engelmann.

Holstein Kiel (4-5-1): Ioannis Gelios; Jannik Dehm, Simon Lorenz, Hauke Wahl, Mikkel Kirkeskov; Fin Bartels, Jae-sung Lee, Jonas Meffert, Alexander Bieler, Fabian Reese; Janni Serra.

Rot-Weiss Essen vs Holstein Kiel Prediction

We expect a closely-fought encounter between these non-Bundesliga sides, who will be eager to create more history.

However, there's something about Essen that makes them a dark horse of this season's Pokal. With that in mind, we're going with a narrow home win in this fixture.

Prediction: Rot-Weiss Essen 2-1 Holstein Kiel