A high-scoring encounter looks on the cards when SC Paderborn welcome Werder Bremen to the Benteler-Arena for a DFB-Pokal tie on Wednesday evening.
In the six league fixtures between the sides, there has been an incredible 27 goals scored, and both sides have been in imperious goalscoring form so far this season too.
Match preview
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It was a good weekend for Paderborn, as a second 3-0 win in succession moved them up into the automatic promotion places at the expense of Hamburg, who went down 3-0 to local rivals St Pauli.
Those comfortable back-to-back wins have softened the blow of losing to bottom-placed Greuther Furth and their closest challengers Darmstadt in the games previous.
Their clinical attack has been the driving force behind their strong start, as they have scored nine goals more than the next best side in the division, averaging almost three goals per game in the 2.Bundesliga.
That is helped by having two of the league's top scorers in attack, with Felix Platte on six and Marvin Pieringer on seven - as well as four in the Pokal, topping those charts.
While they have enjoyed 5-0 and 7-2 wins this season, only two sides have conceded fewer goals than Lukas Kwasniok's side too, so the foundations are in place for a serious promotion push with such a potent attack and a strong defence.
Their sensational home record has papered over some mediocre form on the road, as they have taken 18 points from a possible 21 here at the Benteler-Arena - a league high, and they will hope to carry that form into the cup too.
They have already gone one round further in the cup than they did last season, when Dynamo Dresden put them out in the first round, but there was no fuss this time around when they hammered fifth-tier Einheit Wernigerode 10-0 to make it through.
They have been unfortunate in some of their cup exits in recent seasons though, as they have been drawn against, and lost to, RB Leipzig, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund (twice) in the last eight seasons.
Werder Bremen have made a solid start back in the Bundesliga, and are well in the mix at the right end of the table even though they sit down in ninth, as the standings are so congested that they sit just four points off second-placed Bayern.
Like Paderborn, their excellent attacking numbers are a big factor in their good start, as only Bayern and Frankfurt have netted more goals than Ole Werner's men.
However, while Paderborn have made home a fortress this season, Bremen are much stronger on the road, as all of their three defeats this season have come at home, including one at the weekend against Mainz.
Eleven points from five away matches in the Bundesliga represents the best points-per-game tally of any side in the division, so if they could align their home form with something similar, a charge for Europe would definitely be on the cards.
They are aided by the fact they have the current Bundesliga top scorer up front in the form of Niclas Fullkrug, who scored winning goals against Hoffenheim and Bochum recently.
The six-time cup winners have made good progress in the Pokal in recent years, having reached two semi-finals and two quarter-finals between 2018 and 2021, but they went out to third division side Osnabruck in the first round last season.
A 2-1 win over Energie Cottbus back in August ensured they did not suffer the same fate this season, but it will be a real challenge to make it past an in-form Paderborn outfit.
Team News
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New signing Sebastian Klaas is the only absentee, as the ex-Osnabruck man is still yet to make his Paderborn debut since joining in the summer due to an ACL injury.
Kwasniok understandably played a relatively weaker side in the first round due to the standard of their opponents, but he may well go with his strongest XI here against much sterner opposition.
Platte did not feature in the first round tie and has been reduced to substitute appearances of late, but he could be given a start up front ahead of either Pieringer or Dennis Srbeny for this one.
Manager Werner revealed Leonardo Bittencourt will be back in time for Werder for this one after recovering from illness over the last week, an illness picked up just after he had returned to the side from injury.
Nicolai Rapp will be out for another couple of weeks with a hip problem, but may return soon along with fellow midfielder Jean Manuel Mbom, who has been out for over six months with an Achilles tendon injury.
Centre-back Milos Veljkovic missed the weekend's defeat to Mainz but has been back in training in preparation for this one so could come back into the side, most probably to replace Marco Friedl, who missed training with the side on Monday.
Werder played a full strength side for their first round tie, so there is nothing to suggest that Werner may rotate his side for the trip to Paderborn.
SC Paderborn possible starting lineup:
Huth; Rohr, Heuer, Hoffmeier; Obermair, Schallenberg, Justvan, Muslija, Leipertz; Pieringer, Platte
Werder Bremen possible starting lineup:
Pavlenka; Stark, Pieper, Veljkovic; Weiser, Gross, Schmid, Bittencourt, Jung; Fullkrug, Ducksch
We say: SC Paderborn 2-3 Werder Bremen
Paderborn have been excellent this season and will really be tested by a side in the division above in a game that could go either way.
It is certainly a potential banana skin for Werder, who will perhaps hope they are not taken all the way to extra time and penalties in a game which looks like it could go the distance on paper.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Andrew Delaney
