1860 Munich and Karlsruher SC go head to head as two of the lowest-ranked sides left in the DFB-Pokal when they meet on Tuesday evening.
The hosts are the only team outside of the top two tiers in Germany left in the competition, whilst the visitors occupy midtable in the 2.Bundesliga.
Match preview
3.Liga side 1860 Munich head into Tuesday's cup tie having already defeated two sides from the 2.Bundesliga in the previous two rounds this season.
The first round in August saw Michael Kollner's side see off SV Darmstadt 98 on penalties, after the tie had initially finished 1-1 after extra time.
However, the second-round progression was even more impressive by Die Lowen, with a 1-0 victory over giants Schalke 04 being achieved thanks to Stefan Lex's early goal back in October.
Back in league action, Tuesday's hosts head into the clash on the back of three consecutive victories, with Saturday's 3-2 victory over Wehen Wiesbaden being their first fixture since the winter break.
Semi Belkahia, Stephan Salger and Richard Neudecker scored the goals as Kollner's men came back from 2-0 down to earn the three points, which lifted them into eighth place in the table, and leaves them within four points of the automatic promotion places.
Should 1860 Munich manage to pull off a third consecutive cup upset on Tuesday, it would be the first time they have reached the quarter-finals of the DFB-Pokal since the 2007-08 season, when they were eventually knocked out by rivals Bayern Munich after extra time.
Meanwhile, the visitors will be looking to reach the quarter-finals stage for the first time since they reached the semi-finals back in the 1996-97 season.
That was during the club's most successful years in recent times, when they spent 11 consecutive years in the Bundesliga, and reached the quarter-finals in five out of six years.
Those days are well in the past though, and Christian Eichner's side currently find themselves occupying a comfortable 10th spot in the 2.Bundesliga, following their 2-2 draw at Darmstadt in the return from the winter break on Saturday.
Fabian Schleusener netted the equaliser midway through the second half, after Eurofighter had fallen 2-1 behind despite taking an early 1-0 lead.
With no fears over potential relegation and no realistic possibility of achieving promotion, Tuesday's visitors can fully focus on a potential cup run that has been lacking for so many years.
A tie at the lowest-ranked side left in the competition provides them with an excellent opportunity, but they will be all too aware of their opponent's scalps already this campaign.
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Team News
The hosts will be looking for Marcel Bar and Lex to provide the goals for them on Tuesday evening.
The duo led the line in a 5-3-2 setup on Saturday, and although neither were on the scoresheet in the comeback win, they are their top two goalscorers this season.
Despite failing to score last time out, Bar has managed to net five goals in his last seven appearances, and he will be supported by the likes of Yannick Deichmann, Dennis Dressel and Neudecker.
As for the visitors, Robin Bormuth, Malik Batmaz and Choi Kyoung-rok will all remain out until the end of January at the earliest.
Paul Lohr, Sebastian Jung and Leon Jensen are the long-term absentees, with the trio remaining sidelined for the next couple of months at least.
Former Brentford striker Philipp Hofmann leads the line with 10 goals this season for a side containing former Ajax full-back Ricardo van Rhijn.
1860 Munich possible starting lineup:
Hiller; Willsch, Salger, Belkahia, Steinhart, Greilinger; Deichmann, Dressel, Neudecker; Bar, Lex
Karlsruher SC possible starting lineup:
Gersbeck; Van Rhijn, Kobald, O'Shaughnessy, Heise; Thiede, Gondorf, Wanitzek, Cueto; Schleusener; Hofmann
We say: 1860 Munich 1-2 Karlsruher SC
Both sides have been well amongst the goals of late, so therefore we should expect to see an entertaining and open encounter on Tuesday.
Despite plying their trade in the division above, Karlsruher will not be huge favourites to win, but we are still predicting their progression here by a narrow margin.
Top tip
Matthew Tranter
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Karlsruher SC win with a probability of 41.9%. A win for 1860 Munich had a probability of 34.22% and a draw had a probability of 23.9%.
The most likely scoreline for a Karlsruher SC win was 1-2 with a probability of 8.85%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (7.53%) and 0-2 (6.11%). The likeliest 1860 Munich win was 2-1 (7.89%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (10.89%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 7.5% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Karlsruher SC would win this match.
