Cologne calls for St. Pauli in crisis: who will break the negative series?

Cologne calls for St. Pauli in crisis: who will break the negative series?

An exciting clash awaits on Saturday afternoon when 1. FC Köln meets FC St. Pauli in their home stadium. The mood in the Cologne camp is mixed after the last draw against Werder Bremen (1-1), but coach Alexander Blessin emphasizes that the intensity and team spirit of his team are right. In the table, however, things look bleak for FC St. Pauli - coach Lukas Kwasniok's team has nine defeats in a row and is in a worrying second-to-last place.

The Hamburgers' last appearances show a clear trend. St. Pauli started promisingly with three wins from the first five games, only to then fall into a negative spiral. Most recently there was a 1:3 defeat against Bayern Munich, despite an early lead. Nevertheless, St. Pauli can look forward to an unexpected bright spot in the DFB Cup: There the team made it to the quarter-finals with a 2-1 win against Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Offensive and defensive in focus

St. Pauli's sporting situation is characterized by a weak offensive, which has so far only scored 11 goals and therefore has the lowest number in the league. The team averages 0.9 goals per game. The defense is also anything but stable: 24 goals conceded in 12 games show clear weaknesses. Especially in away games, St. Pauli was only able to score a meager 3 points out of 18 possible.

St. Pauli's formation could feature a mix of defensive and offensive pressing, with a possible formation of 3-3-2-2 or 3-4-1-2. Despite the critical situation, coach Kwasniok is optimistic and emphasizes his team's playing strengths. New signing Martijn Kaars hasn't collected any scorer points in the league yet, but showed good signs in the cup.

The Cologne path to victory

Cologne, on the other hand, have to do everything they can to win three points in order not to lose touch with the upper regions of the table. Blessin leaves no doubt that his team has to find a playful solution against St. Pauli in order to master the pressure situation. The performances so far show that you have to improve to survive in the Bundesliga.

The game promises to be an exciting duel for both sides, in which St. Pauli will try to learn from the past and put Cologne in front of a tough test. With deep motivation, FC St. Pauli could make a surprise appearance, and in the end, as we all know, anything is possible in football.

For more details and current developments around the game, visit the coverage on kicker.de.