Preview:St Pauli vs Borussia Dortmund - prediction, team news, lineups

Borussia Dortmund will hope that their clash against hosts St Pauli on Saturday at Millerntor-Stadion can mark the beginning of a successful title challenge in the Bundesliga.

St Pauli earned top-flight survival last season after finishing 14th with 32 points, whereas Dortmund finished fourth in the final Champions League qualification spot.

Match preview

The hosts' points haul of 32 last term saw them narrowly avoid the division's 16th-placed relegation spot by three points, and they only missed out on a place in the bottom two by seven points.

St Pauli were outstanding at the back, with their record of 41 goals conceded only bettered by champions Bayern Munich, who conceded 32 times.

Kiezkicker only found the back of the net on 28 occasions - the worst return in the top flight - and they failed to score in three of their final four games of 2024-25.

Head coach Alexander Blessin was fortunate that his players won a penalty shootout in the opening round of the DFB-Pokal on August 16 against Norderstedt, and that was the sixth consecutive competitive game that his side had failed to win in regulation time.

Home advantage proved to be somewhat ineffective for St Pauli last season considering they were beaten in six of their closing 11 fixtures at Millerntor-Stadion, drawing on a further three occasions.

BVB cannot consider 2024-25 a success due to the fact they felt it necessary to part ways with boss Nuri Sahin, appointing Niko Kovac as his successor, but they did at least show signs of recovery given they rose from 10th place when Sahin was sacked to finish fourth.

Dortmund may have ambitions of challenging for the 2025-26 title considering they collected 22 points from a possible 24 in their final eight league fixtures.

Black and Yellow were still strong in the final third despite their struggles, scoring 71 goals in the Bundesliga, a tally that was only beaten by Bayer Leverkusen (72) and Bayern Munich (99).

The visitors won both meetings with St Pauli last term - prevailing 2-1 and 2-0 - but they did lose their prior encounter 2-1 in the DFB-Pokal in 2022.

Kovac's side emerged as 1-0 victors when they faced Rot-Weiss Essen in the DFB-Pokal on August 18, and they won nine of their prior 11 competitive outings.

Dortmund's victory last time out was also their third consecutive triumph away from home, and they are undefeated in their past five matches on their travels.

St Pauli form:

Borussia Dortmund form:

Team News

St Pauli centre-backs David Nemeth and Karol Mets are injured, but Hauke Wahl, Eric Smith and Adam Dzwigala are available for selection.

Midfielder James Sands was a regular in the XI last season, and he may appear alongside newcomer Joel Chima Fujita.

If Blessin utilises a front three on the weekend, then forwards Oladapo Afolayan, Andreas Hountondji and Mathias Pereira Lage will have ambitions of starting.

Dortmund are also facing a selection dilemma in the backline due to Nico Schlotterbeck and Niklas Sule's injuries, so perhaps Kovac will station Filippo Mane, Waldemar Anton and Ramy Bensebaini in a back three.

Jobe Bellingham - brother of Jude Bellingham - could make his first competitive start for BVB in midfield next to Pascal Gross and Marcel Sabitzer.

Serhou Guirassy netted 21 goals for the visitors in the Bundesliga in 2024-25 - only Harry Kane scored more in the German top flight - and he will be keen to open his 2025-26 account.

St Pauli possible starting lineup:

Vaslj; Wahl, Smith, Dzwigala; Pyrka, Sands, Fujita, Oppie; Afolayan, Hountondji, Lage

Borussia Dortmund possible starting lineup:

Kobel; Mane, Anton, Bensebaini; Ryerson, Gross, Sabitzer, Bellingham, Svensson; Guirassy, Adeyemi

We say: St Pauli 0-3 Borussia Dortmund

It is difficult to see how St Pauli can get back into the game if they concede first considering their record in the final third is subpar.

Borussia Dortmund were excellent in front of goal in 2024-25, and they will be full of confidence given their strong displays at the end of the season.

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