St Pauli require a Bundesliga win against Köln to move out of the bottom three, though even a victory might not lift them above 15th.
They head into the match following a heavy defeat to Bayern Munich, a fate that several teams near them in the standings have already endured this season.
St Pauli aim to face a more level opponent in Köln, but the game will not be easy.
St Pauli's Rückrunde (second half of the season) table has not seen them in the bottom three (13th), so they are playing catch-up from 2025's missed opportunities.
Despite this, the table reflects where St Pauli were projected to finish, albeit with the caveat that they have conceded far more goals this season than last.
With a favourable fixture list, Nikola Vaslij can continue to keep the defence in shape as he is among the league's top shot-stoppers in saves this season.
Ahead of the game, St Pauli coach said: “Now we are especially not going to be dancing on chairs (German idiom).”
Team news
St Pauli will be without Ricky Jade Jones who is long-term injured and are likely to be without loanee James Sands and also Eric Smith as starters. Joel Chima Fujita is suspended for one game due to yellow cards.
Predicted lineup (3-4-2-1) right to left: Vasilj - Andö, Wahl, Mets-Saliakas, Irvine, Rasmussen, Pyrka - Sinani, Pereira Lage - Hountodji
FC Köln
The good news for Köln is that they picked up their last win since January against Werder Bremen last matchday.
Adding to this, the Cathedral side are now unbeaten in their last four Bundesliga outings with two games either side of the Lukas Kwasniok sacking and the international break.
New head coach René Wagner has four points out of two including a tough away trip to Eintracht Frankfurt with one point being secured under the new coach: goals are evident from the frontline.
The newly formed front line of Ragnar Ache and Said El Mala provides depth and a range of attacking qualities, with physicality, speed, dribbling and goals all accounted for.
Köln's front three of Jakub Kamiński, Ragnar Ache and Said El Mala have a combined 34 goal contributions in the Bundesliga this season, indicating Köln's attacking output is not the issue in their relegation fight.
As a point of weakness for St Pauli to exploit, Köln have not kept a clean sheet since their last win before Bremen in late January, and the backline has shown inconsistency aside from keeper Marvin Schwäbe.
Ahead of the game, coach Wagner said: “St Pauli transition dangerously and have a lot of solutions on the ball. It comes down to our defensive stability - we were outstanding in that area against Bremen.”
Bulinews notes that this season there has been only one instance of Köln keeping the same backline two games in a row, and that was against Hamburg late last year followed by Borussia Mönchengladbach in the derby.
With this in mind, it is a chance for Wagner to take control of the team and make early history this season for the club in his head coach career.
Team news
After returning from injury in March, Alessio Castro-Montes is expected to start for Köln as coach René Wagner indicated he is a starting-eleven candidate this week. Timo Hübers and Luca Kilian complete the remaining injuries for Köln who can feature in the starting eleven; both are long-term injuries since early in the season.
Predicted lineup (4-4-2) right to left: Schwäbe - Sebulonsen, Simpson-Pusey, Özkacar, Lund - Castro-Montes, Jóhanesson, Martel, Kamiński - Ache, El Mala
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