Match Preview vs St. Pauli

Opponents Focus: 

Our city rivals have gone from strength to strength since our defeat at the Millerntor earlier in the season. Sitting in top spot currently and have done for the past few months. It’s our job to put some sort of change to that come Friday evening. 

Obviously it’s difficult to look past their fantastic victory in the DFB Pokal, knocking out reigning champions Borussia Dortmund with 2-1 scoreline at home. Although perhaps the league form of late hasn’t been the strongest for our city rivals. 

Three wins form the last six matches but haven’t not won in their last three. Draws vs Fortuna Düsseldorf and Erzgebirge Aue, with a Defeat away to Holstein Kiel sandwiched between. Showing that no matter how strong our rivals have been this season, there is a ways to break them down.

Match Facts:

Overall Stadtderby Records

Of the 106 Hamburg derbies played so far, HSV have won 68. In addition, 16 draws and 22 defeats have been recorded. The overall record clearly demonstrates the club's supremacy in the city, but in terms of second-division statistics, HSV have plenty of room for improvement: only one of seven duels has been won (10 March 2019, 4:0), while two draws and one defeat have been recorded at the Volksparkstadion. The first city derby home win must therefore be the declared goal, especially as the Rothosen have not lost a single match on home soil so far this season (four wins, six draws).

Two cup quarter-finalists meet each other

For the first time in around 25 years, FC St. Pauli and Hamburger SV are back together in the quarter-finals of the DFB Cup. While the Red Shirts won 5:4 (extra time) in Cologne on Tuesday evening, the Kiezkicker managed a sensation against Borussia Dortmund (2:1) less than two hours later and knocked the reigning cup winners out of the prestigious competition. Incidentally, in the 1996/97 cup season FCSP were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Energie Cottbus (after a penalty shoot-out), while HSV advanced to the semi-finals thanks to a 2-1 win at VfL Bochum. However, that was also the end of the line, with VfB Stuttgart winning 2-1 in April 1997 and ultimately also securing the coveted trophy.

Glatzel vs. Burgstaller

With their goals, they have played a major part in the respective team's success: Robert Glatzel (twelve competitive goals) and Guido Burgstaller (16) are among the best strikers in the 2nd Bundesliga and have impressively demonstrated their qualities in the course of the season so far. Often under the radar is the important work against the ball done by the HSV centre-forward and the FCSP attacker. Glatzel has reeled off a remarkable 189.2 kilometres in 1598 minutes of action, while Burgstaller has clocked up 189.4 kilometres in 1662 minutes.