Two newly-promoted sides will face off when St. Pauli welcome Holstein Kiel to Millerntor-Stadion for Friday’s Bundesliga contest.
St. Pauli are currently in the relegation playoff spot, having accumulated eight points from 11 matches, with a three-point cushion over 17th-placed Kiel. The team has secured only two league victories since their return to the top flight, the latest being against Hoffenheim at the beginning of November. However, they have not added to their points tally since then, suffering back-to-back defeats without scoring.
St. Pauli narrowly lost 1-0 to league leaders Bayern Munich and subsequently fell 2-0 in an away match against Borussia Mönchengladbach. As they return to Millerntor-Stadion, St. Pauli aim to achieve their first home league win of the season. To claim all three points, they will need to improve their performance in the final third, having failed to score in any of their first five home games (D2, L3).
In terms of team news, the hosts are expected to be without Sascha Burchert, Elias Saad, Robert Wagner, Connor Metcalfe, Ronny Seibt, Ben Voll, Scott Banks, and Simon Zoller.
On the other hand, Holstein Kiel are struggling in the automatic relegation places, having collected only five points from their 11 league games. They began their first-ever Bundesliga campaign with an eight-game winless streak before achieving a crucial victory against Heidenheim on matchday nine. Unfortunately, Kiel has been unable to build on that success, suffering back-to-back losses to Werder Bremen and Mainz.
Coach Marcel Rapp is likely concerned about his team's defensive performance, as they have the second-worst record in the league with 28 goals conceded. Additionally, Kiel must improve their offensive output, having scored just 12 goals in 11 matches. They will be looking for improvement on Friday as they seek their first-ever Bundesliga away victory, having garnered only two points from five away games this season.
For team news, the visitors will be without the injured Colin Kleine-Bekel and Alexander Bernhardsson.
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