Bundesliga | Gameweek 14

Dec 14, 2024 at 5.30pm UK

Millerntor-Stadion

St Paulivs.Werder Bremen

Match preview

After seeing off Holstein Kiel - one of the few teams below them in the table - to record their first home win of the season at the end of November, St Pauli were understandably unable to build on that success when they visited 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 defeats from their last four league games.

They remain just above the relegation zone, albeit by one point, and have made the second-worst start to a Bundesliga season.

Only once before have St. Pauli had fewer points at this stage of a top-flight campaign, when they were relegated after finishing bottom of the table in 2001-02.

Since their first Bundesliga win over Werder Bremen in 1977, the Kiezkicker have failed to win any of their next 15 matches and lost each of their last seven, so history will not be on their side this weekend.

In more recent times - in the top two divisions and the DFB-Pokal - Bremen are unbeaten in five meetings with St Pauli, the last of which was a 1-1 draw in the 2. Bundesliga in 2021-22.

They will travel to Hamburg on the back of last week's 1-0 away win over Bochum, in which Jens Stage scored his sixth goal in five league games - as many as in his previous 66 appearances combined.

The win lifted Die Gruneweißen to 10th in the table, just two points off the European places - and eight clear of Saturday's opponents.

Ole Werner's men had started the season with 10 points from a possible 12 away from home, and the win over Bochum means that only Bayern Munich have picked up more points on the road.

Bremen have now won four of their last six away games in the Bundesliga - as many wins as they had in their previous 21 games - so they should have little to worry about on their trip to the Millerntor.

Recent Performance

St Pauli Bundesliga form:DWLLWL

St Pauli form (all competitions):LWLLWL

Werder Bremen Bundesliga form:DLWLDW

Werder Bremen form (all competitions):LWLDWW

Team News

To add to an already extensive injury list, St Pauli coach Alexander Blessin will be without Guinea winger Morgan Guilavogui - the scorer against Leverkusen - who is serving a suspension this weekend.

Goalkeepers Sascha Burchert and Soren Ahlers, midfield trio Scott Banks, Connor Metcalfe and Robert Wagner and strikers Elias Saad and Simon Zoller are all ruled out, while Estonian centre-back Karol Mets has a knee problem.

Johannes Eggestein, who is set to start up front for the hosts, was directly involved in all three goals against Holstein Kiel: his first 46 Bundesliga appearances came for Werder Bremen between 2017 and 2020, during which time he scored just five league goals.

Meanwhile, Werder's Marvin Ducksch picked up his sixth assist of the season last time out to move up to third in the table, and he is likely to be involved in the final third again.

However, fellow striker Justin Njinmah has been ruled out with an ankle problem, joining Felix Agu and Keke Topp on the sidelines.

Former Liverpool midfielder Naby Keita, who has been out of action for several months, has agreed to leave the club next month to join Ferencvaros on loan.

Possible starting lineup

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