St. Pauli vs Eintracht Frankfurt preview: Marmoush future talk lingers as campaign restarts

St. Pauli

Saturday's hosts secured a shock win in their final game before the break, overcoming VfB Stuttgart by a goal to nil on their travels at MHPArena. 

Head coach Alexander Blessin admitted that his side was required to defend deeper than he would have liked; however, he expressed his delight regarding his team's performance. 

“We were really aggressive in the right areas and had some good turnovers. The goal was a huge relief.”

“You can't keep Stuttgart away from your goal for the entire 90 minutes, that's clear, and we defended a little deeper, which means they'll always create chances. The way we defended and threw ourselves in the way of every ball was simply magnificent.”

St. Pauli have produced a mixed record in recent matches, winning three and losing four of their last seven. However, the point is there to be made that two of these losses came against league leaders Bayern München and reigning champions Bayer Leverkusen.

Conceding just 19 goals thus far, Blessin and his side carry one of the best defensive records in the Bundesliga this campaign, with their five clean sheets only being bettered by RB Leipzig.

However, at the Millentor-Stadion, Saturday's hosts have won just once this season, an alarming record ahead of a tough test against Eintracht Frankfurt this weekend.

Team News

The extensive injury list for St. Pauli is on the pathway of clearing up by the end of this month, however, Blessin could still be without forward Elias Saad, centre-back Karoi Mets and midfielder Robert Wagner for an extra few days. 

Jackson Irivine and Carlo Boukhalfa are likely to start in midfield after featuring regularly this campaign. Connor Metcalfe has been ruled out. 

Johannes Eggestein is likely to start in the attack alongside Oladapo Afolayan and Morgan Guilavogui due to the absence of Simon Zoller. Whilst goalkeepers Sascha Burchert, Soren Ahlers, Ben Alexander Voll, and wing back Lars Ritzka are all ruled out for the weekend. 

Nikola Vasilj will likely start between the posts, with wing-backs Phillip Treu and Manolis Saliakas stationed on either side of Blessin's back three.

Eintracht Frankfurt

Saturday's visitors went into the winter break on a sour note after consecutive losses against RB Leipzig and Mainz. 

Dino Toppmöller's side had looked prepared to mount a genuine title challenge during the season's early days, however they have since fallen nine points behind leaders Bayern München. 

Toppmöller let out his frustrations after the defeat against local rivals Mainz, saying that, “This result feels strange. We had a great opening period, great energy on the pitch and could've led 2-0 after 15 minutes. Suddenly we're 2-0 down, though.”

“We tried everything, kept pushing, brought on fresh legs, changed things around and had some gilt-edged chances. Overall we did a lot of things really well. We're conceding goals too easily. The third goal was also avoidable.”

The Eagles' recent form is particularly concerning after losing four and drawing one across the course of the last five outings in all competitions. Eintracht have conceded 13 goals during this period, whilst scoring six.

Team News

Eintracht enter the weekend without any major injury concerns, however, with personal terms agreed between Omar Marmoush and Manchester City, negotiations are now ongoing between the two clubs. 

With Marmoush reportedly desperate for the move, Eintracht's electric Egyptian may have played his last game for the Eagles. 

The only injury concern for the visitors revolves around centre-back Aurele Amenda, who is scheduled to return in February.