Preview: St Pauli vs FC Koln - prediction, team news, lineups

The fight for Bundesliga survival continues this Friday night as St Pauli welcome FC Koln to the Millerntor-Stadion for a high-stakes encounter.

The Kiezkickers enter this latest matchday in the relegation playoff spot after being thumped 5-0 by Bayern Munich last weekend, while the Billy Goats moved further away from danger with a 3-1 win over Werder Bremen.

Match preview

The alarm bells are ringing at St Pauli as the club face a race against time to save their season and retain their top-tier status.

Last weekend was particularly painful as the Kiezkicker welcomed league leaders Bayern to the Millerntor, only to be handed a five-goal spanking.

That result extended St Pauli’s winless run to five games, meaning Alexander Blessin and his men have only picked up two points since the start of March.

With five games remaining, St Pauli are three points away from safety, though they will be buoyed by the fact two of their remaining games are against the only two teams below them.

There is still time for the Kiezkicker to shake off their poor run of form and give themselves a fighting shot at Bundesliga survival, but one area which needs immediate improvement is their goal-scoring ability.

No team in the competition has scored fewer goals than St Pauli, whose output has been particularly low in recent weeks, with two goals from five games to their name.

Those same alarm bells have become somewhat quieter at FC Koln following the team’s 3-1 victory against Werder Bremen last weekend.

The Billy Goats have seen an upswing in results under interim boss Rene Wagner, which has seen them climb up to 13th in the standings.

Ahead of this latest matchday, Koln find themselves five points clear of St Pauli and just three points adrift of mid-table clubs like Augsburg and Mainz.

Wagner and his men are just one or two big results away from securing their Bundesliga status for next season, and they will be confident of getting a result against a struggling St Pauli side.

The Billy Goats are unbeaten in seven previous head-to-head encounters with the Kiezkicker- a run which includes five solid victories.

Another major positive for Koln is their recent goal output, with the team rattling the net eight times across their last three outings.

St Pauli Bundesliga form:

W D L L D L

FC Koln Bundesliga form:

L L D D D W

Team News

St Pauli head into Friday’s fixture without their Japanese international star Joel Fujita, who picked up his fifth yellow card of the season last weekend and now faces a suspension.

English striker Ricky-Jade Jones remains on the sidelines with an ankle injury, in what is a blow to St Pauli’s attacking options.

Midfielder James Sands is also carrying an ankle problem, with the American missing four previous matches.

Sweden’s Eric Smith is another injury concern for the hosts, with the player enduring recent frustrations on the training ground. He is unlikely to feature on Friday night.

When it comes to the visitors, the Billy Goats have got two injury worries on their radar ahead of this latest fixture.

Timo Hubers, for instance, has been out for the majority of the season with a knee injury, and he is not expected back on Friday.

Defender Luca Kilian is also nursing a knee problem, and will be watching the game from the sidelines.

In terms of attacking threats, Ragnar Ache is the man to watch having produced five goal contributions across his last eight matches - including a goal against Werder Bremen last weekend.

St Pauli possible starting lineup:

Vasilj; Wahl, Ando, Mets; Saliakas, Irvine, Rasmussen, Oppie; Sinani, Pereira Lage; Hountondji

FC Koln possible starting lineup:

Schwabe; Sebulonsen, Simpson-Pusey, Ozakacar; Lund, Thielmann, Martel, Johannesson, Kaminski; Ache, El Mala

We say: St Pauli 1-2 FC Koln

The home team find themselves in a dangerous position in the table and without any sort of momentum under their wings.

Koln, on the other hand, have got one foot away from relegation, and they will be looking to complete that step by bagging a successive Bundesliga win.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.