SV Elversberg 2025/26 season preview: Stability the priority for new-look Saarland club | OneFootball

SV Elversberg endured a campaign of immeasurable highs followed by one fell swoop of heartbreak and disappointment. The plucky club from the Saarland dug out four wins and five draws on the home straight of the 2024-25 campaign to bag themselves a shot at promotion to the Bundesliga via the play-off. Colloquially dubbed ‘Real Elversberg’ throughout the season – largely due to their all-white strip – Horst Steffen’s team often embodied their Galactico doppelgangers with their fluid and eye-catching counterattacking football.

With their season reaching a crescendo in the play-off against a FC Heidenheim side shy on goals across their Bundesliga travels, anything seemed possible. What unfolded across two games will arguably go down as one of the most exhilarating winner-takes-all battles that Germany has witnessed. The first-leg at the Voith Arena saw Lukas Petkov and Fisnik Allsani find goals before Tim Siersleben and Mathias Honsak responded. Taking a result home to the Waldstadion an der Kaiserlinde seemed vital. The net bulged as Honsak and Elversberg’s Robin Fellhauer exchanged goals, but a bittersweet moment ensued as Léo Scienza’s 96th-minute strike ended it – so near yet so far!

Transfers:

Despite missing out on promotion, their overly successful season in which they scored the second-most goals (64) and boasted the league’s best defence (only 27 conceded), drew attention to their stars. Fisnik Allsani (19 goals, 10 assists) and Muhammed Damar (9 goals, 6 assists) both rejoined TSG Hoffenheim after their loans expired, while Elias Baum also returned to Eintracht Frankfurt. From a financial point of view, Elversberg have pocketed around €2.2million from the sales of industrious midfielders Semih Sahin (Kaiserslautern) and Robin Fellhauer (Augsburg). Meanwhile, the loss of left-back Maurice Neubauer adds further to their woes, joining Hannover 96 on a free transfer.

On the incoming side however, Elversberg have stuck to their principle of attracting young loanees and free transfers. The Saarland club welcome promising attacking talents Jarzinho Malanga (LW, Stuttgart) and Bambase Conté (AM, Hoffenheim) on a year-long basis. Lasse Günther arrives from Augsburg to stamp his authority on left-back duties, while Amara Condé (CM, Heerenveen) and Felix Keidel (RB, Ingolstadt) cost a mere €800k combined. Further experience comes from Kaiserslautern’s Jan Gyamerah and Stuttgart’s Luca Pfeiffer – the latter with 17 goals from 50 previous 2.Bundesliga outings.

Pre-season preparations:

After Horst Steffen’s departure for Werder Bremen, Elversberg find themselves under the tutelage of Vincent Wagner and started their pre-season in late June with a 3-3 draw against Eintracht Trier. They saw off Kickers Offenbach 1-0 before they turned the corner into more fearsome opponents in PSV Eindhoven (3-1 defeat) and TSG Hoffenheim (5-2 loss) at their training camp in Zuzenhausen, Baden-Württemberg. Their pre-season warm-up fixtures will conclude on July 26 as they return to their home stadium for a meeting with Eredivise outfit Fortuna Sittard. Thus far, Bulgarian winger Lukas Petkov (2 goals) has been the standout name while new man Günther netted against PSV.

Possible starting lineup:

(4-2-3-1) Kristof (GK) – Gyamerah, Pinckert, Le Joncour, Günther – Sickinger, Condé – Petkov, Conté, Malanga – Schnellbacher

At just 39-years-old, Wagner’s tactical ploys remain relatively unknown aside from his success with TSG Hoffenheim’s U-23 squad with whom he stuck to a 4-2-3-1 formation. His credentials were proven in 2024-25 as he guided the Kraichgauers’ reserves to the 3.Liga. Nicolas Kristof ought to remain in goals, with Gyamerah adding experience to a backline of Pinckert, Le Joncour and Günther. Although a capable centre-half, Carlo Sickinger ought to form part of the double-six pivot. Lukas Petkov is vital on the right wing, with loanees Conté and Malanga to be given chances to shine. Luca Schnellbacher should lead the line with Frederik Schmahl as his understudy.

Predictions for the 2025-26 season:

With a new coach at the helm and a solid chunk of the squads’ spine from last season gone; it’s hard to picture another promotion bid materialising this time around. While I don’t think Elversberg’s once-in-a-lifetime opportunity has passed them by, the absence of stars like Allsani, Damar, Baum, Sahin and Fellhauer is sure to hurt. For that reason, a season of stability would be considered paramount. Since escaping the Regionalliga Südwest back in 2021-22, the last thing the Saarland club need is to slide back down the tiers. If Wagner can implement his tactics and their new signings deliver, a steady campaign resulting in a 9-12th place finish is achievable.