FC St. Pauli

Back again

Wehen Wiesbaden last played in Bundesliga 2 from 2007 to 2009 before spending ten years in the third tier. They narrowly missed out on a play-off spot not once but three times in that spell (2010/11, 2013/14 and 2017/18), ending the campaign fourth each time, before finally securing a third-place finish last season. FC Ingolstadt provided the opposition in the play-off and won the first leg 2-1 at Wiesbaden, with Daniel-Kofi Kyereh grabbing a crucial goal for the third division outfit in the sixth minute of time added on. And in a hectic second leg, Wehen triumphed 3-2 to return to the second division on the away goals rule after a ten-year absence.

Bookings galore

Wehen captain Sebastian Mrowca is eligible to face the Boys in Brown again after serving a one-match ban at home against Darmstadt last week for picking up five yellow cards. One behind him on four are striker Manuel Schäffler, midfielder Jeremias Lorch - and head coach Rüdiger Rehm! Following the introduction of the rule under which head coaches can be cautioned and have to serve a ban after collecting four yellow cards, the Wehen boss would normally have already been suspended once. His first booking came just a few days before the rule was adopted by the German Football Association on 21 August, however.

Life insurance

Where would Wehen Wiesbaden be without Manuel Schäffler. The striker is indispensable for the newly promoted side, having scored 11 goals already this term, i.e. 57.9 per cent of their 19-goal total. Only one other player has contributed a bigger share of his team's goals in the top division. Former St. Pauli forward Rouwen Hennings has bagged ten of Fortuna Düsseldorf's 16 goals, which equates to 62.5 per cent. Schäffler has his nose in front of Hennings when it comes to effectiveness, however. His 11 goals have come from just 37 attempts (ratio: 0.298), while Hennings has needed 34 attempts for his ten goals (ratio: 0.294). Schäffler has stood out this season by scoring the opening goal on six occasions, with five of these strikes coming in the first ten minutes.

Stability

Wehen have the worst home record of any second division side, sitting bottom of the rankings with one win, three draws and four defeats. They have also conceded the most goals in front of their own fans (22). Away from home, however, it’s a different story. Rüdiger Rehm's team have conceded just 11 times on the road – which puts them third in this category. Only Bielefeld and Sandhausen (eight goals each) have let in fewer goals. In their last four away games, Wehen have conceded just twice.

Stamina

The two teams are separated by FC Nürnberg in the league table, while in terms of distance covered, Nürnberg and Greuther Fürth slot in between the Boys in Brown and Wehen Wiesbaden, who are just nine kilometres behind Jos Luhukay's team. Maximilian Dittgen is the player with the most stamina in the Wehen squad. The versatile winger has clocked up 178.39 kilometres so far. Only eight second division players have done more running. Stuttgart's Philipp Förster leads the way on 193.17 km, ahead of Karlsruhe's Marvin Wanitzek (189.63 km) and Regensburg's Marco Grüttner (184.85 km). Mats Møller Dæhli is our best distance runner. His total of 172.41 km puts him in 15^th place in this category.

Marvin Knoll (left) and Manuel Schäffler last faced each other in January when the Boys in Brown beat Wehen 3-2 in a training camp friendly.

Photos: Witters