St. Pauli vs. Union Berlin preview: Die Eisernen desperate to avoid another away defeat

Union Berlin will look to end a run of five consecutive Bundesliga away defeats when they travel to the Millerntor-Stadion for Sunday’s meeting with St. Pauli.

St. Pauli

St. Pauli are sitting in 14th position after winning five, drawing two and losing 11 of their 18 league games this season. They recorded the most recent of those five victories in last Saturday’s away meeting with Heidenheim, bouncing back from consecutive 1-0 defeats to claim a 2-0 victory. Johannes Eggestein opened the scoring from the penalty spot, before Morgan Guilavogui added a second to guide St. Pauli to a second win in three away league games.

They will now return to the Millerntor-Stadion where they have struggled to produce their best form this season. In fact, they currently have the league’s worst home record, having taken just five points from their eight Bundesliga home games this season. They have mustered only three goals across those eight matches, highlighting a key area for improvement if they are to enjoy better fortunes on home turf. 

Team News

The hosts are unable to call upon Sascha Burchert, Karol Mets, Robert Wagner, Connor Metcalfe and Simon Zoller due to injury. Meanwhile, Eric Smith and Adam Dźwigała are both suspended for Sunday’s fixture.

Union Berlin

Steffen Baumgart experienced a difficult start to life as Union boss, losing 2-0 in both of his first two matches against Heidenheim and Augsburg. Fortunately for Baumgart, it proved to be third time lucky in last Sunday’s home clash against Mainz, with Benedict Hollerbach and Robert Skov finding the net in a 2-1 victory. 

As a result of Baumgart’s first win, 13th-placed Union are now six points clear of the bottom three and three points better off than Sunday’s opponents. Die Eisernen travel to the Millerntor-Stadion with aspirations of claiming their first away league win since beating Holstein Kiel on October 20. Since that result, Union have lost five consecutive top-flight away games, conceding at least two goals in four of those matches. 

While their away record may not inspire confidence, the visitors may be able to draw inspiration from the fact they recorded a 1-0 victory in their first-ever Bundesliga meeting with St. Pauli in August. On that occasion, Hollerbach’s first-half effort proved enough to seal all three points. 

Team News

Union are without the services of Andrej Ilić, who is set to miss a second straight game with an ankle problem.