FC St. Pauli

P39, W23, D6, L10 – the figures speak for themselves. The Schultz XI have performed spectacularly well in 2021. This becomes even more apparent when you compare the numbers at the league level. With 75 points, i.e. almost two per game, the Boys in Brown lead the second-division table for the year by some distance. Going into the final game of 2021 at Holstein Kiel, the gap to SV Darmstadt 98 in second place is ten points and as many as 14 points to our cross-city rivals.

Whatever the outcome on Friday evening, head coach Timo Schultz will be in a good mood over Christmas. His team go to Kiel looking for a result, and preferably a win, of course. No easy task, however, against a team who have picked themselves up after a shaky start to the campaign. The Storks have won two, drawn four and lost two under new boss Marcel Rapp and are unbeaten in four at home. Kiel sit 15^th in the table, four points above the relegation play-off place, and will be targeting a win to lift them further clear of the drop zone and go into the festive season on a high.

The Boys in Brown have yet to concern themselves with the winter break, of course, and are ready to "go flat out to the end", as Schultz was keen to point out at the pre-match news conference. It's been a long year but the players are showing no signs of fatigue, far from it. At the end of a three-match week, the Boys in Brown ran an impressive 120.09 kilometres at Nürnberg, following up with another 119.81 kilometres against Schalke 04 and 121.61 kilometres at Düsseldorf last time out.

Against a Kiel outfit packed with individual quality, his team will have to be at their best if they are to get a result. The 3-0 victory in the reverse fixture paved the way for an outstanding first half of the season, said Schultz yesterday. A repeat of that scoreline on Friday would set the Boys in Brown up nicely for a successful second half.

Photos: Witters