Position
Nobody could reasonably expect absolute top quality football in this fixture. The Bundesliga fixture between bottom-of-the-table Holstein Kiel and FC St. Pauli in fifteenth promised to be a true relegation battle. And that's exactly how the two teams played last weekend. The quality of the game was irrelevant to the visitors from Hamburg in the end. As the 2-1 last minute win brought the Boys in Brown three important points. "Perhaps it was the most important win of the season," said winger Noah Weißhaupt after the game looking at the defeats for the rivals from Bochum and Heidenheim. Danel Sinani scored his second goal of the season in the first half to cancel out the Kiel opener. An own goal from Holstein defender Max Geschwill gave FC St. Pauli the win in added time.
"It really was one of our worst games," said St. Pauli coach Alexander Blessin not mincing his words. "We were too sluggish and not alert. […] And we were laboured in the second half. But we accept that and are slightly happy with the three fortunate points – but not much more." Nevertheless: Ahead of matchday 30, St. Pauli have a seven-point lead over the play-off spot and are nine points above a direct relegation position. A comfortable cushion with five games to play. Despite that, defender Philipp Treu sounds a warning: "We have made a step forward towards staying up. However it could still be tight. Now we have five finals and we know what the remaining fixtures are." The home match against the double winners Bayer 04 is followed by an away game at on form Werder Bremen. Then St. Pauli host VfB Stuttgart, are away to Eintracht Frankfurt before the final game of the season sees next-to-bottom VfL Bochum visit the Millerntor.
FC St. Pauli clearly have momentum. The Hamburg club have only lost one of their last five games and that was a narrow 3-2 defeat away to Bayern Munich. There were two draws (both 1-1 against VfL Wolfsburg and Borussia Mönchengladbach) plus a 1-0 win against TSG Hoffenheim.
Personnel
Coach Alexander Blessin has had a team operating well together in recent weeks. In front of goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj, Hauke Wahl has been the main man in a back three. David Nemeth and Adam Dzwigala played alongside him in the 2-1 win in Kiel. But the latter could be replaced on the left on Sunday by Lars Ritzka or Siebe Van der Heyden. Blessin will now definitely have to make a change in central midfield. The skipper Jackson Irvine is ruled out for the first time this term. The 32-year-old Australian complained of pain in his right foot after the game in Kiel. A scan at the start of the week showed a stress reaction in that area. Irvine was in the starting line-up in all the previous 29 league games and always played the full 90 minutes. It remains to be seen how long St. Pauli have to manage without their leader and most energetic player (see performers). The replacement for the actually irreplaceable could be one of Connor Metcalfe, Carlo Boukhalfa and Robert Wagner. Winter signing James Sands (New York City FC) is still sidelined with a broken leg.
Eric Smith is a definite starter in defensive midfield. Philipp Treu and Manolis Saliakas have played on the flanks. The attacking line-up remains to be confirmed. The Luxembourg player Danel Sinani has featured in recent games. And Oladapo Afolayan started up front again in Kiel. Elias Saad and Johannes Eggestein, who are important to the team both as scorers and providers, suffered knocks and did not train at the start of the week. Noah Weißhaupt missed out due to illness. It is possible that Morgan Guilavogui could be back in the starting XI for the first time against the Werkself. The Frenchman is the top scorer in the team with five goals. After a long lay-off due to injury, the player on loan from RC Lens came off the bench in the last two matches.
Problems
The goals scored by Guilavogui, who netted an impressive strike late on to make it 2-1 in the Hinrunde defeat in Leverkusen, are urgently needed. The 27-year-old suffered a hairline fracture to the wrist in February that kept him out for seven games and the team from Hamburg lost four of those matches without scoring. There is definitely room for improvement in attack with the 25 goals scored by St. Pauli making them the least prolific team in the league. They have failed to find the back of the net in 14 of the 29 games so far. It is true the attack has again and again been hit by injuries over the course of the season. And the Tunisia international Elias Saad was sidelined for a number of weeks.
Performers
The Boys in Brown are the dynamos of the league. The team led by coach Alexander Blessin have covered 3,505 kilometres in 29 games – that is the top number in this category. It is no wonder that three individual players from St. Pauli are in the top ten. Captain Jackson Irvine has covered the greatest distance of all Bundesliga players with 354 km so far. His teammates Philipp Treu (325 km) and Hauke Wahl (314) are in places seven and eight.
FC St. Pauli's greatest strength is defending. That was the trump card for the Hanseatic club in the promotion season when they had the second best defence in Bundesliga 2 with 36 goals conceded. And they are also difficult to get past in the top-flight. St. Pauli's defence is currently the fourth best in the league with 35 goals conceded so far with only FC Bayern (29), the Werkself and Mainz 05 (34 each) letting in fewer goals. And something else has also made St. Pauli strong recently: their ability to comeback. Going behind a few weeks ago was synonymous with defeat for the Hanseatic side levelling at 1-1 in the 3-2 defeat against FC Bayern. Against Borussia Mönchengladbach, Oladapo Afolayan equalised at 1-1 in the closing stages. And St. Pauli have now turned a match round completely against Kiel. For the first time this season. "It shows we have upped our game," said a happy Alexander Blessin.
