Bundesliga strugglers St Pauli will seek just their second home win of the season on Saturday evening, when they welcome Werder Bremen to the Millerntor.
While the Hamburg club lost away to Bayer Leverkusen last time out, Bremen beat Bochum to stay in touch with Germany's top six.
Match preview
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After St Pauli saw off Holstein Kiel - one of the few teams below them in the table - to secure a first home win of the season at the end of November, they were understandably unable to back that success up when visiting reigning champions Leverkusen last week.
Trailing by two goals before the half-hour mark, Alexander Blessin's side eventually succumbed to a 2-1 defeat at the BayArena, making it three losses from their last four league games.
They still sit just above the relegation playoff place, though only by one point, having made their second-worst start to a Bundesliga season.
St Pauli only had fewer points at this stage of a top-flight campaign once before, when they were ultimately demoted after finishing rock bottom in 2001-02.
Since winning their first Bundesliga meeting with Werder Bremen back in 1977, the Kiezkicker have failed to win any of the next 15, while losing each of the last seven; therefore, history will not be on their side this weekend.
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More recently - across Germany's top two divisions and the DFB-Pokal - Bremen are unbeaten in five games against St Pauli, the last of which was a 1-1 draw in 2. Bundesliga during the 2021-22 season.
On this occasion, they will head for Hamburg buoyed by last week's 1-0 away win over Bochum, which saw Jens Stage score his sixth goal in five league matches - as many as throughout his previous 66 combined.
Victory took Die Grun-Weissen up to 10th place in the table, just two points shy of the European places - and eight clear of Saturday's opponents.
Ole Werner's men had started the season by accruing 10 points from a possible 12 on their travels, and beating Bochum means that only Bayern Munich have picked up more on the road.
Bremen have now won four of their last six away games in the Bundesliga - as many victories as in the previous 21 - so a trip to the Millerntor should hold few fears.
Team News
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Adding to an extensive injury list, St Pauli coach Alexander Blessin will be without Guinea winger Morgan Guilavogui - scorer of the Kiezkicker's goal against Leverkusen - who must serve a suspension this weekend.
Goalkeepers Sascha Burchert and Soren Ahlers, midfield trio Scott Banks, Connor Metcalfe and Robert Wagner, and forward pair Elias Saad and Simon Zoller are all ruled out, while Estonian centre-back Karol Mets has been hampered by a knee problem.
Set to start up front for the hosts, Johannes Eggestein was directly involved in all three goals against Holstein Kiel: his first 46 Bundesliga appearances came for Werder Bremen between 2017 and 2020, in a spell that brought only five league strikes.
Meanwhile, Werder's Marvin Ducksch recorded his sixth assist of the season last time out, placing him third in the rankings, and he should feature in the final third once again.
However, his fellow forward Justin Njinmah has succumbed to an ongoing ankle problem, joining Felix Agu and Keke Topp on the sidelines.
Frozen out for several months, ex-Liverpool midfielder Naby Keita has agreed to leave the club next month, when he will move to Ferencvaros on loan.
St Pauli possible starting lineup:
Vasilj; Wahl, Smith, Nemeth; Saliakas, Irvine, Boukhalfa, Treu; Afolayan, Eggestein, Sinani
Werder Bremen possible starting lineup:
Zetterer; Stark, Friedl, Jung, Kohn; Weiser, Stage, Lynen, Grull; Schmid, Ducksch
We say: St Pauli 1-2 Werder Bremen
As Werder are one of the Bundesliga's best away sides, they can leave Hamburg with maximum points, given St Pauli's struggles at home.
The hosts have scored just three times in six league matches at the Millerntor this season, so they may end up empty-handed against Bremen again.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Jonathan O'Shea
