FC St. Pauli

Could do better

Erzgebirge Aue are not exactly our favourite opponents, it's fair to say. Of the fifteen meetings between the two sides to date (14 in Bundesliga 2, one in the DFB Cup), the Boys in Brown have won a paltry two, drawing five and losing the other eight. Their last success dates back to December 2013, Fin Bartels and Michael Gregoritsch getting the goals in a 2-0 victory. The other one came over ten years ago, a 4-2 win at the Millerntor in May 2008.

New stadium officially open

The Erzgebirgsstadion was converted from a multi-purpose venue to a dedicated football stadium between December 2015 and January 2018. To the club's credit, the work was completed not only on time but also on budget. The new stadium was not officially opened until late July, however, when the Violets beat top-flight side Schalke 04 by a goal to nil.

Large squad

This season the Violets boast 29 professionals in their senior squad (source: transfermarkt.de). In the second division, only the two Hamburg clubs have more (HSV 33, St. Pauli 30). Most of Aue's players are from Germany. Only Holstein Kiel (5) and der FC Heidenheim (1), have fewer foreign imports on their books than Aue (6).

Transfer merry-go-round

The Violets had a very busy transfer period this summer. Ten players left the club in total, the most prominent of them being striker Pascal Köpke, who joined Bundesliga outfit Hertha BSC for an alleged two million euro fee. Ten players came in the other direction, while Maximilian Schlosser and Elias Löder made the transition from the youth ranks. One evergreen amid all this change is goalkeeper Martin Männel, who is in his 11^th season with the club.

Old hands

Aue have plenty of experience in the outfield as well as between the posts. In Christian Tiffert, 36, and Daniel Haas, 35, the Violets have two of the top three oldest players to be used this season, both of whom featured in the 3-2 defeat against Ingolstadt last time out. Tiffert was a respectable 36 years, six months and 13 days' old that day. With an average age of 28.1, the whole team was very experienced.

Photos: Witters