'Cap off the week': Women's cup journey begins in Elversberg

Werkself fans can watch the match live HERE on Werkself-TV, in the Bayer 04 app and on the club's YouTube channel from 11:55 CEST. "We're treating the game with maximum seriousness and respect for the opposition," said coach Roberto Pätzold. "The last few days have asked a lot from us, we had to give it everything until the end at Nürnberg and against Frankfurt. Now of course we want to cap off the week."

It's been a good start to the season for the Leverkusen ladies, who have registered three narrow wins in a row since the opening 2-0 defeat at FC Bayern Munich. "We've shown in every game so far that we can be a match for any team in Germany," continued Pätzold. "We need to do our jobs in Elversberg to get through to the next round and then maybe achieve something special in this cup campaign. That's why there won't be major experimenting."

It remains to be seen how much the coach can manage the workload within his squad. "If we could picture this week perfectly, then we would've liked the two matches before the cup game to have been all but decided by a certain point in time, so that we could've made substitutions to rest people," explained Pätzold. "That wasn't the case in either of them. We've recovered well but there are still a few question marks." Having started with the same XI in the last three matches, there will be changes in some positions, with Charlotte Voll starting in goal for the first time this season in place of captain Friederike Repohl.

Elversberg a 'physical team'

The hosts, who are third in the Regionalliga Southwest with 10 points after five matchdays, qualified for the DFB Cup proper thanks to a 4-2 penalty shootout win over Fortuna Köln in the play-offs. "They're a physical, hard-tackling team who are very direct in their attacking play and always look for the second balls," said Pätzold. "We expect a similar game to the one against Nürnberg.“

Eight players from the first-team squad won't be making the trip to the Waldstadion Betzental: as well as Cornelia Kramer (muscle injury), Selina Ostermeier (fitness), Shen Menglu (cruciate ligament), Melissa Friedrich and Ida Daedelow (both ill), Lilla Turanyi (knock), Estrella Merino Gonzalez and Valentina Mädl (both ill) are also ruled out. Paulina Bartz and Amy Wrigge will return to the squad after their recent knocks, though.