Our next opponents: Paderborn head into cup tie on back of historic winning streak

Position

After their 2-1 win at SG Dynamo Dresden last weekend, SC Paderborn 07 moved up to a direct promotion spot in Bundesliga 2 for the first time this season. In second place after ten matchdays with 23 out of a possible 30 points, just one point behind leaders FC Schalke 04, the East Westphalians have made a dream start that few would have expected. The three points at Dresden also meant a new club record: it was Paderborn's sixth straight win in Bundesliga 2 - something they'd never achieved before. At the same time, the 2-1 marked the 200th second-tier win since the merger to form TuS Paderborn-Neuhaus in 1985. 25 October 2025 will go down as a historic day in the club's annals.

On the face of it, the win in the Saxon state capital was a workmanlike victory. Paderborn's striker Filip Bilbija had cancelled out Dresden's lead with a penalty in first-half stoppage time. Mika Baur scored the winner for the visitors in the 65th minute. SCP07 coach Kettemann said after the game: "We were lucky to go into the break at 1-1. From the 60th minute onwards, I had the feeling Dresden were finding the going increasingly tough. We needed the momentum we have at the moment to win today."

SCP have actually been benefitting from that momentum for a few weeks now. Their winning run began with a 1-0 against VfL Bochum 1848, in which the winner from Lucas Copado came in the last minute. This was followed by two 2-0 wins, at Hertha BSC and against 1. FC Kaiserslautern. Stefano Marino came off the bench to land the knockout blow in the 2-1 win in Braunschweig. In the spectacular encounter with neighbours DSC Arminia Bielefeld, Paderborn turned a two-goal deficit into a 4-3 triumph - their first derby win since 2014. Their only defeat of the season to date came on Matchday 3 at home to Fortuna Düsseldorf (2-1).

In the first round of the DFB Pokal, SCP07 had lost no time in taking control of their clash at third-division club FC Viktoria Köln. Two goals from Adriano Grimaldi, who has since moved to 1. FC Nürnberg, and another from Filip Bilbija gave the visitors a 3-0 lead at the break, and the game ended in an emphatic 3-1 win and progress to the second round.

PersonNEl

Lukas Kwasniok shaped football at Paderborn for four years. During his tenure as coach, the club finished seventh twice, sixth once and most recently even fourth. And this despite SCP07's player budget putting them in the bottom third of the league. Steffen Baumgart had previously achieved cult status as coach at the club. Kwasniok moved to 1. FC Köln in the summer, while Baumgart is also now in the top flight at 1. FC Union Berlin. To put it bluntly, Ralf Kettemann has big shoes to fill in Paderborn. The 38-year-old arrived from the youth setup at Karlsruher SC, where he successfully coached the U19s for four years. Paderborn is now his first stop at senior level. There have also been personnel changes at club management level: The new managing director for sport is former SCP07 goalkeeper Sebastian Lange. He's been supported by sporting director Robin Trost and the new head of the licensed player department Dominik Roll since the start of this season. The trio are forging a successful sporting path under club president Thomas Sagel, who has been in post since 2021. And they're doing it with a team who are once again generating excitement in Paderborn this season.

The new number 1 is Dennis Seimen, on loan from VfB Stuttgart, who has played in every league game so far. In the first round of the Pokal, however, Markus Schubert was between the posts. Felix Götze, brother of World Cup winner and Eintracht Frankfurt player Mario Götze, plays in the middle of a back three. The captain and defensive leader was already an absolute top performer last season. Calvin Brackelmann, who was sidelined against Dresden and will also miss the game against Bayer 04 due to thigh problems, and Tjark Scheller usually defend on either side of him. Mika Baur and Santiago Castaneda pull the strings in the centre of the four-man midfield, while Laurin Curda (right) and Raphael Obermair play on the flanks. As in last season, Filip Bilbija is the most dangerous striker up front. The 25-year-old scored nine times in 2024/25 and set up another ten goals. He currently leads the internal top scorer charts with seven goals. New signing Steffen Tigges, who joined from 1. FC Köln in the summer, recently scored his first two goals for Paderborn in the 4-3 win against Bielefeld. Nick Bätzner, another new signing (from SV Wehen Wiesbaden) is already firmly established in attack. However, the hosts will be without Marcel Hoffmeier on Wednesday evening; the defender faces a long period out due to a cruciate ligament rupture.

ProblemS

During the “wild ride” against Bielefeld, his team “didn't play derby-like football” for long stretches of the first half, criticised SCP07 coach Kettemann, most probably referring to his team's lack of aggression and tenacity. If Paderborn fail to take these virtues, which are fundamental to their style of play, into the game, things will be tough. There have also been problems in terms of efficiency this season: Up to Matchday 9, SCP had by far the highest xGoals value (17.1), but converted too few chances (11). A lack of experience may be the reason for the team's inability to find the net: Paderborn are one of the youngest teams in Bundesliga 2 - the average age of the players deployed so far is just over 24.

PERFORMERS

In the match against Bielefeld, the Blue & Blacks' aforementioned weaknesses were on display, but they also showed what they're capable of in the second half. Particularly in the first quarter of an hour after the break, "you could see the power we can develop. That was a top performance," said Kettemann, praising his team, who scored three goals in the space of 13 minutes against Arminia. Two of them came from Tigges and another from top scorer Bilbija. Two players who work well together in attack. Former Köln player Tigges also works hard to get back and help defend. "The fact that we've kept four clean sheets is also down to him," said Kettemann, singling out his new striker for praise. Having conceded just nine goals so far, Paderborn boast the fourth-best defence in the league. Passionate, intensive play against the ball, defending as a collective - that's the basis of Paderborn's game, which is enjoying increasing local support. In each of the last two seasons, SCP07 set a new Bundesliga 2 club attendance record, most recently with an average attendance of 14,260. This season, the 15,000-capacity Home Deluxe Arena has been sold out for almost every one of the five home games.