Hannover 96 vs. FC St. Pauli preview: Six-pointer in Saturday primetime match

HANNOVER 96

Hannover 96 (2-1-4, 13th) were very close to promotion to the Bundesliga last season, but a 3-3 draw with 1. FC Nürnberg on the final day, plus victories for SC Paderborn 07 and SV Elversberg 07, saw them miss their opportunity and finish just outside of the playoff. This has been followed by a less than ideal start to the 2026/27 season, with just one win from their last four matches (1-1-2).

These are the two most offside-heavy teams in this 2. Bundesliga campaign to date; FC St. Pauli have committed 28 over their seven-match span, Hannover 25. Managing crosses is where Hannover will need to do quite a bit of work, as St. Pauli have the third-most in the league (152), whereas Hannover are fifth from bottom in that category (113).

35 of those crosses (31%) came off the boot of Polish right-back Arkadiusz Pyrka, who Hannover will look to contain throughout the entirety of the 90. Meanwhile, Hannover will need to rely on 25-year-old German midfielder Lars Gindorf to find open spaces for powerful attempts - Gindorf is tied for ninth in terms of shots on target in the entire league, with eight.

Team News

Hannover have only one injury to report, and that is to Sierra Leonean winger Mustapha Bundu (hamstring), whose return is unknown. The return date for 17-year-old German centre-back Joschua Siewert (inner ligament), removed from the main squad for the moment, is also unknown.

FC ST. PAULI

Flip the draw and loss totals of Hannover this season and you have the record of FC St. Pauli (2-4-1, 7th), who are on the other side of this Saturday primetime matchup. St. Pauli were also in the opposite situation of Hannover last season, relegating from the Bundesliga on the final day with a 1-3 loss to VfL Wolfsburg. Both of their two victories in this campaign to return to the top level have come in matches where they held less than 50% of possession, and were outplayed in a few notable statistical categories.

This is certainly a six-pointer for Marcel Rapp’s side. A win puts them exactly six points clear of the bottom third of the table, but a loss puts them in a very difficult situation - as not only could Hannover overtake them in the table with a dominant result, but it also creates opportunities for FC Energie Cottbus, DSC Arminia Bielefeld, VfL Osnabrück, Eintracht Braunschweig, VfL Bochum 1848, and SV Darmstadt 98 to all move up the table.

Hannover and St. Pauli have not met since a club friendly in October 2024, a 3-2 victory for the Niedersachsen side; however, it is the latter that are unbeaten in their last four head-to-head 2. Bundesliga meetings (2-2-0). In the 2023/24 season, St. Pauli won the away meeting 2-1 and managed a scoreless draw at home; the last time that Hannover won both their home and away meetings with St. Pauli was in the 2021/22 season (1-0 home, 3-0 away).

Team News

St. Pauli have three injuries to report. Icelandic defensive midfielder Gísli Þórðarson (hamstring) is set to return to the main squad in late October, whereas the return for Portuguese-French winger Mathias Pereira Lage (cruciate ligament) is set for the end of the year. Danish centre-back Marcus Mathisen (knock) is expected to return to the main squad by the end of the month at the latest, potentially even seeing a return as soon as next week.

Projected Lineups

Click here to see the projected lineups for the Hannover - St. Pauli match.