Pellegrino Matarazzo on…
…FC St. Pauli: “St. Pauli are a team that must not be underestimated. They have not changed much in terms of personnel, they’re relatively well rehearsed. The last matches were always very close, they were in them. They play very flexibly, also in terms of defending. They can also press higher. It is a good team that awaits us.”
…the clash between 15th and 16th: “I don’t care about St. Pauli’s position in the table, but rather about us. The number of points that we have is not enough given our aspirations. We have some ground to make up due to our poor start to the season. That’s why the game is important for us.”
…possible rotation: “Grillo has not played the entirety of the last matches, but I’m convinced he has the freshness to play 60 minutes. Anton Stach is currently playing lots, always with only a two-day gap. That’s quite a workload for him to cope with. But Anton’s very key for our team and our performance. We have many options in defence, it’s super we can rotate there. There’s no reason to name a top 11 in the current situation. We have so many matches and need every player. Stanley Nsoki is fresh and available. Haris Tabaković is an incredibly important player when presence in the box is required.”
…set-pieces: “We frequently have chances but don’t finish them off. It is an issue for us every week. I’m very happy that we were finally rewarded for his work against Nürnberg. Two goals according to plan – it can definitely continue that way.”
…the development: “You do not only see the development on the pitch but also in the numbers. We have conceded five goals in the last six competitive matches; at the beginning of the season, we were averaging three goals conceded per match. It is clear that the team had to find itself. One can now see that they have found themselves. We’re ready to do everything together in order to win the match. I can still see room for improvement in our build-up structure; procedures in the final third are also an issue too. We want to create even more goalscoring chances and be more clinical in front of goal.”
The personnel situation:
Pellegrino Matarazzo had no news to report about the long-term injury absentees. Dennis Geiger is being observed in training to see whether he could be an option for the squad after recovering from bruising.
The opposition’s form:
The promoted outfit went through October without a win. There were two defeats in the Bundesliga (3-0 against Mainz and 2-1 in Dortmund), while there was also a goalless draw in Wolfsburg. St. Pauli were eliminated from the cup away to RB Leipzig in midweek (4-2 defeat).
Head-to-head record:
There have been four meetings to date between FC St. Pauli and TSG; the head-to-head record is even. Both teams have won one match each, while two games ended in stalemate. However, almost 13 years have already passed since the last meeting.