Freiburg vs. St. Pauli preview: Hosts targeting third consecutive victory
Freiburg
Freiburg have made an impressive start to life under Julian Schuster, having won three of their four Bundesliga matches. They kicked off their league campaign with a 3-1 over Stuttgart, before they fell to an away defeat against Bayern Munich. Schuster’s charges quickly bounced back with a narrow 2-1 win against Bochum, before they swept past Heidenheim with minimum fuss.
After playing out a goalless first half against Heidenheim, Freiburg netted three goals in the space of 11 minutes to clinch all three points. Ritsu Dōan broke the deadlock before Vincenzo Grifo registered a second straight victory to clinch back-to-back league wins for the first time since December 2023.
As a result of their impressive start, the Breisgau-Brasilianer are currently sitting in third spot and three points adrift of leaders Bayern Munich. They will now be looking to produce another strong performance in their first meeting with St. Pauli since claiming an extra-time win in the DFB-Pokal in October 2022.
Team News
The hosts are unable to call upon the injured quartet of Manuel Gulde, Kiliann Sildillia, Merlin Röhl and Daniel-Kofi Kyereh.
St. Pauli
St. Pauli has experienced a disappointing start to their first Bundesliga campaign since 2010-11. They started the season with three consecutive defeats against Heidenheim, Union Berlin and Augsburg. Alexander Blessin’s side managed to end their losing run in their recent home meeting with RB Leipzig. They produced a resolute display to hold the Champions League participants to a goalless draw, giving Blessin his first point since replacing Fabian Hürzeler in the summer.
Although St. Pauli would have taken confidence from that hard-fought draw, the result extended their winless run in the Bundesliga to 16 matches. If they are to end that winless run, St. Pauli will have to improve in their final third, having scored just one goal in their opening four league games.
Team News
Sören Ahlers, Sascha Burchert, Simon Zoller and Robert Wagner are all ruled out of Saturday’s away fixture. Meanwhile, Morgan Guilavogui is a doubt after he was forced off against Freiburg.