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St. Pauli host Borussia Dortmund at the Millerntor Stadion in the Bundesliga’s first Topspiel on Saturday evening. Alexander Blessin’s side boasted the second best defence in the league last season despite finishing just three points above the relegation playoff. As for Borussia Dortmund, they’ve been one of the Bundesliga’s most consistent sides since the appointment of Niko Kovac and look best placed to challenge Bayern Munich for the Meisterschale.
The big absence for St. Pauli coming into this game is the loss of club captain Jackson Irvine. The Aussie midfielder suffered an injury to his left foot and underwent surgery, and is still undergoing rehabilitation meaning that he will miss Saturday’s game against Dortmund. Summer arrival Ricky-Jade Jones is also out with a shoulder injury.
As for Borussia Dortmund, they were handed a major boost after Yan Couto travelled to Hamburg with the squad after being on the receiving end of an atrocious tackle during the closing stages of their 1-0 win over Rot-Weiss Essen in the DFB Pokal. They are without Nico Schlotterbeck, Niklas Sule and Emre Can, meaning a Bundesliga debut for Filippo Mane is on the cards. To complement Serhou Guirassy and Karim Adeyemi, it’s a toss up between Jobe Bellingham and Julian Brandt.
St. Pauli vs Borussia Dortmund Predicted Lineups
St. Pauli XI: Vasilj – Wahl, Smith, Dzwigala – Pyrka, Sands, Fujita, Oppie – Sinani – Hountondji, Pereira Lage.
Borussia Dortmund XI: Kobel – Mane, Anton, Bensebaini – Couto, Sabitzer, Svensson – Groß, Bellingham – Guirassy, Adeyemi.
GGFN | Daniel Pinder
