FC St. Pauli vs Fortuna Düsseldorf: A Chance to Keep Up with Hamburg in the Second Division Promotion Race

Status: 05/13/2023 10:24 am

Saturday evening, prime time, packed stadium, floodlights: FC St. Pauli’s home game against Fortuna Düsseldorf today offers the best conditions for Hamburg to stay on the heels of HSV in the second division promotion race.

“It’s going to be packed. The fans will step on it, we’ll step on it. It’s a great atmosphere, with floodlights,” said midfielder Marcel Hartel, looking forward to tonight’s game (8.30 p.m., in the NDR Livecenter) with great anticipation.

The Kiezkicker have already played six of these so-called “top games” in the second Bundesliga this season, and the record is impressive: There was only one defeat (0:2 in Bielefeld), but there were top performances against top -Teams like the 1-0 in Heidenheim or recently the 3-0 at leaders Darmstadt 98.

Further information

The remaining program of the top teams in the 2nd Bundesliga at a glance. Also there: HSV and St. Pauli. more

Put pressure on HSV with a win

Now the duel with fifth-placed Düsseldorf offers the chance to increase the pressure on third-placed HSV (Sunday in Regensburg). That’s exactly the goal, explained St. Pauli’s coach Fabian Hürzeler: “If we win, we’d be up for a point for one night. And then we could relax and watch TV on Sunday.”

“I don’t know how much that puts Hamburg under pressure. I also don’t know if they even watch the second division.”
St.-Pauli-Coach Hürzeler

Nevertheless, Hürzeler emphasized on Thursday, the chances of relegation are primarily of a theoretical nature. “I know, now I’m going to repeat my phrase, but it’s just the way it is. We look from game to game and what we can influence and that’s not how others play.”

Jackson Irvine vom FC St. Paul jubelt. © IMAGO / osnapix

AUDIO: St. Pauli: The catch-up chasers before the game against Düsseldorf (2 min)

Smith operational again

In terms of personnel, the coach has one more alternative in Eric Smith: “He’s an option, but of course a risk assessment also plays a role.” The Swede was absent recently, once suspended, once injured. St. Pauli had won both games even without the defensive clearer. “We all know that Eric is worth his weight in gold for us, but we also know that we have players who can replace him very well.”

Possible lineups:

FC St. Paul: Vasilj – Dzwigala, Medic, Mets – Saliakas, Irvine, Hartel, Morning – Afolayan, Daschner, Saad
Fortuna Düsseldorf: Kastenmeier – Zimmermann, Hoffmann, Klarer, Gavory – Oberdorf – Klaus, Appelkamp, Iyoha – Kownacki, Ginczek

Further information