Hannover 96 welcomes FC St. Pauli to the north duel today. The Hamburgers may travel confidently after their 3-2 win against Nürnberg, but at the same time they are something of a favorite opponent for Lower Saxony.
Since the turn of the millennium, Hamburg have only won one game in eleven games. The two defeats last season were particularly bitter: St. Pauli were seven points short of direct promotion to the Bundesliga and four for relegation. Without the 0:1 in Hanover and the 0:3 at the Millerntor, the Kiezkicker would have been at the top…
Schultz expects “50:50 game”
St. Pauli coach Timo Schultz is therefore not blinded by Hanover’s opening defeat at newly promoted Kaiserslautern and spoke of a “50:50 game” in the run-up to the game, which kicks off on Saturday evening (8.30 p.m., in the NDR Livecenter).
It may be an advantage for his team to have to play against 96 so early in the season: “They have real quality on the bench. The more games they have, the more they will be in it.” Hannover’s coach Stefan Leitl also expects a “duel at eye level” in which “nuances” will decide: “It will depend on the form on the day.”
Starting eleven debut for St. Paulis Fazliji?
In terms of personnel, St. Pauli again has one more player available. Defender Marcel Beifus has served his suspension. “There won’t be too many changes,” announced Schultz, “but we’re not 100% clear on all eleven positions yet.”
There may be a change in the defensive line: new signing Betim Fazliji, who came on in injury time against Nürnberg, could replace Adam Dzwigala in the starting XI. “Especially when he’s playing with the ball, he’s really good, his punch in a tackle is excellent,” Schultz praised the 23-year-old.
Hanover has everyone on board
96-Coach Leitl can draw from the full. 23 field players and three goalkeepers were on the training ground in the last public unit before the duel with St. Pauli. Gael Ondoua, who suffered a bruise in Kaiserslautern, was also involved again. After the “extremely bitter” defeat in Kaiserslautern, Leitl would like his players to play “a bit more structured, cleaner, simpler and smarter”.
“Success accelerates growing together.”
— 96 sports director Marcus Mann
The same applies to Hanover as to St. Pauli: Both teams have to deal with a change in personnel – and “a change is consolidated with a sense of achievement,” said 96 sports director Marcus Mann of the “Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung”. The Leitl team had this sense of achievement in preparation, the team remained undefeated. “We have to get back to those performances,” said Mann. Maybe the “favorite opponent” is just right for that.
Possible lineups:
Hannover 96: Zieler – Dehm, Neumann, Börner, Köhn – Kunze – Schaub, Besuschkow – Kerk – Teuchert, Beier
FC St Pauli: Smarsch – Saliakas, Fazliji, Medic, Paqarada – Smith – Irvine, Hartel – Daschner – Eggestein, Matanovic
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NDR 2 Sports | 07/23/2022 | 11:03 p.m
