Borussia Dortmund will aim to recover from their 2-1 defeat against Union Berlin as they host newly promoted St. Pauli at Signal Iduna Park in their seventh Bundesliga match of the 2024-25 season. Dortmund who are currently seventh with 10 points are in need of a win to stay in contention while St. Pauli are in 15th with four points and are desperate to move away from the relegation zone.
Dortmund had a strong start under new manager and old Dortmund player Nuri Sahin winning four of their first five games. However, with recent struggles including a 5-1 loss to Stuttgart we have seen them drop form. They have still maintained an excellent home record, winning eight of their last nine matches at Signal Iduna Park. Dortmund are currently seventh but with only three points separating them and third place Frankfurt all hope is not lost.
St. Pauli under Alexander Blessin have struggled since their return to the top flight. With only four goals in six games they have the lowest tally in the Bundesliga. Despite a surprise 3-0 win over Freiburg their lack of consistency has kept them in the relegation fight. If it’s a question of just finding form of if the Bundesliga is just to much to handle for St Pauli remains to be seen but for now it’s not looking good for Alexander Blessin´s men.
Dortmund will miss several key players including Karim Adeyemi, Giovanni Reyna, and Yan Couto who are all sidelined until November. Niklas Sule and Maximilian Beier are doubtful with Waldemar Anton likely to partner up with Nico Schlotterbeck in defense.
St. Pauli face their own injury problems particularly in goal with Soren Ahlers, Sascha Burchert, and Ben Alexander Voll out. Simon Zoller and Elias Saad are also unavailable forcing Blessin to rely on Afolayan, Johannes Eggestein, and Morgan Guilavogui in attack.
Borussia Dortmund possible lineup: Kobel; Ryerson, Anton, Schlotterbeck, Bensebaini; Sabitzer, Gross; Malen, Brandt, Gittens; Guirassy
St Pauli possible lineup: Vasilj; Wahl, Smith, Mets; Saliakas, Irvine, Wagner, Ritzka; Afolayan, Eggestein, Guilavogui
