FC St. Pauli

The first half of the season draws to a close this weekend but still has a lot to offer, including some surprises. Arminia Bielefeld, now considered candidates for promotion by many coaches, are guaranteed to sit top of the league at Christmas, leaving big favourites Hamburg and Stuttgart in their wake. And newcomers Osnabrück and Erzgebirge Aue are both in the top half of the table after consistently good performances.

The Boys in Brown have not featured in the top half very often. Indeed, the only time they have occupied ninth place or better was after round four. No question: the first half of the season has not gone to plan for Luhukay’s team, who were unbeaten in six but have now gone eight games without a win.

The first half of the campaign has not gone to plan for Wehen Wiesbaden either, albeit with from a different perspective. Rüdiger Rehm’s side did not start well, with one draw followed by six defeats. They have conceded 23 goals, but bounced back at the end of September with the first win of the season, a 2-0 success over Osnabrück. Since then, Wehen have done really well, despite a 6-3 home defeat against Kiel, and are back in touch with the non-relegation positions thanks some much better defending, having conceded just nine goals in their last nine games and keeping five clean sheets in the process.

While Wehen were winning their first game of the season, we were celebrating our third and last win to date against SV Sandhausen. The 1-0 defeat at Regensburg last time out was our eighth game in succession without a win. Luhukay’s charges have gradually dropped down the table after three draws and five defeats and now face the next to bottom team sitting in 15^th place. Eight points separated the teams at the end of September, now it's down to two. With a solid team performance, the Boys in Brown aim to extend that gap to five points on Saturday.

Photo: Witters