FC Köln vs. St. Pauli preview: Visitors searching for first head-to-head win 14 years | OneFootball

FC Köln

Köln are sitting in 10th spot in the standings after winning four, drawing three and losing five of their 12 league games. They have gone three games without a win since beating Hamburger SV at the start of November. Die Geißböcke lost back-to-back matches against Eintracht Frankfurt and Borussia Mönchengladbach, before they rescued a draw in their most recent outing against Werder Bremen.

Said El Mala scored a 91st-minute equaliser to cancel out Marco Freidle’s first-half opener in a 1-1 draw. After picking up a point on their travels, Köln will return to the RheinEnergieStadion, where they have won just one of their previous five competitive home games (D1, L3).

However, they will take confidence from their record against St. Pauli, having won six of their previous eight home head-to-head games (D2), including a dominant 4-1 success in their most recent meeting in the 2.Bundesliga in February 2019. 

Team News

The hosts are without Joël Schmied, Dominique Heintz, Timo Hübers and Luca Kilian due to injury. In positive news, Ragnar Ache is set to return to the squad after missing the draw with Bremen due to concussion protocol. 

Predicted lineup: Schwäbe; Sebulonsen, Van den Berg, Krauß; Thielmann, Martel, Kainz, Lund; Kamiński, El Mala, Waldschmidt

St. Pauli

St. Pauli will be desperate to pick up a positive result after losing each of their last nine league games since taking seven points from their opening three matches. Alexander Blessin’s side went agonisingly close to collecting a point from last Saturday’s away match against Bayern Munich. The contest looked set to end in a 1-1 draw after Andréas Hountondji saw his effort cancelled out by Raphaël Guerreiro. However, Luis Díaz broke St. Pauli’s resolve in the third minute of stoppage time before Nicolas Jackson added another to condemn Blessin’s charges to a 3-1 defeat.

While they have not won in the league since September 14, St. Pauli managed to pick up a victory in their midweek DFB-Pokal clash with Borussia Mönchengladbach. Martijn Kaars and Louis Oppie grabbed a goal apiece in a 2-1 win to fire their side into the quarter-finals.

They will now be looking to build upon that result by claiming their league win of the season on Saturday. However, that will be easier said than done for a club that have not beaten Köln since running out 3-0 winners in January 2011. Meanwhile, their last head-to-head away win took place back in September 1998. 

Team News

Hountondji will miss a second consecutive game after he sustained an injury against Bayern last weekend. The visitors are also without long-term absentee David Nemeth.

Predicted lineup: Vasilj; Wahl, Smith Mets; Pyrka, Irvine, Sands, Fujita, Oppie; Kaars, Pereira Lage