Borussia Dortmund vs. St. Pauli preview: BVB searching for consistency
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Borussia Dortmund
Nuri Sahin has experienced an underwhelming start to life as a Bundesliga boss, having won three, drawn one and lost two of his first six league games as Dortmund boss. Sahin has seen his side win all three of their Bundesliga home matches this season, but his team have been unable to produce similar results on their travels. Die Schwarzgelben drew their opening away game against Werder Bremen, before losing consecutive away league games against Stuttgart and Union Berlin.
Former Union full-back Julian Ryerson got on the scoresheet to half the deficit against his former club. However, Dortmund failed to find the elusive equaliser, ensuring they fell to a narrow 2-1 defeat at Stadion An der Alten Försterei. As a result, Dortmund went into the international break in seventh place and four points adrift of leaders Bayern Munich.
Having struggled on the road, Die Schwarzgelben will be pleased to have home advantage for Friday’s meeting with newly-promoted St. Pauli on Friday. The hosts can take confidence from the fact they have won nine of their last 10 Bundesliga games against St. Pauli.
Team News
Sahin has revealed that Yan Couto will miss Friday’s clash with a muscle injury. The hosts are also without Gio Reyna, Karim Adeyemi and Julien Duranville. Meanwhile, the defensive duo of Niklas Süle and Ryerson are both doubts for the home fixture.
St. Pauli
St. Pauli have made a sluggish start to their first Bundesliga campaign since 2010/11. Alexander Blessin’s side are hovering just above the bottom three after winning one, drawing one and losing four of their opening six league games. After losing their first three league matches, St. Pauli got on the board with a goalless home draw against RB Leipzig. They went on to record an impressive 3-0 away win over Freiburg to take their tally to four points.
Unfortunately for St. Pauli, they were unable to add to their tally in their final outing against Mainz before the international break. Jonathan Burkardt netted a brace alongside an Armindo Sieb effort to condemn St. Pauli side to a 3-0 defeat, leaving them without a win in their opening three home league games.
They will now head on their travels for their first competitive meeting with Dortmund since January 2022. On that occasion, St. Pauli stunned Dortmund to record a 2-1 home victory in the DFB-Pokal.
Team News
The visitors are unable to call upon Sören Ahlers, Sascha Burchert, Connor Metcalfe, Elias Saad, Ben Voll and Simon Zoller. Meanwhile, Danel Sinani is a doubt due to a back issue.