Borussia Dortmund are set to take on St Pauli in the Bundesliga on Friday night as domestic football after the October international break.
The hosts haven't started the new season as well as they would have hoped so a win here feels important to get them back on track ahead of everyone else playing over the weekend.
St Pauli, meanwhile, have started okay considering they are a newly promoted team. Their first win of the campaign came away from home so will be hoping that is a good omen ahead of Friday night.
How the bookies view it: The hosts start as big favourites
The bookies are strongly favouring Borussia Dortmund ahead of this one and have priced a home win at 1/4. St Pauli are considered major underdogs, which should come as no surprise given their stature compared to Dortmund and have been priced at 8/1 to get the three points. The draw, which would be a good result for the visitors, has been priced at 4/1.
Recent head-to-head: Hope for St Pauli
Although they aren't expected to win on Friday, St Pauli do have the psychological edge on Dortmund as they won the most recent clash between the two sides. In what was their only meeting in the past ten years, St Pauli overcame Dortmund 2-1 in a cup match back in 2022. Friday night will mark their first league clash since 2011.
Players to watch: New boy in red hot form
Borussia Dortmund's biggest signing this summer was unquestionably Serhou Guirassy from Stuttgart. The centre forward netted 28 times in the Bundesliga last season which earned him a big money move across Germany in the summer which has naturally put extra pressure on his shoulders.
To compound matters, Guirassy had to wait until the middle of September to make his Dortmund debut due to injury but he has still managed to fly out of the blocks. He has scored six goals in his first six appearances for the club across the Bundesliga and the Champions League and there is a sense that he can lead them to a title charge this season.
To make matters even scarier for St Pauli, the 28-year-old comes into this one on the back of a ridiculous international break. Guirassy netted five times in two appearances for Guinea over the past week and will be desperate to get back on the pitch again.
Predicted line-ups
Borussia Dortmund have several key players out injured for this one with Giovanni Reyna out until early November and Karim Adeyemi out until late November. St Pauli have injury problems of their own with Soren Ahlers, Sascha Burchet, Ben Voll, Simon Zoller and Elias Saad – their top scorer this season – all out.
Borussia Dortmund: Kobel – Ryerson, Anton, Schlotterbeck, Bensebaini – Gross, Sabitzer – Malen, Brandt, Gittens – Guirassy
St Pauli: Vasilj – Saliakas, Wahl, Smith, Mets, Ritzka – Irvine, Wagner – Afolayan, Eggestein, Guilavogui
Anything else catch the eye?
Matches at Signal Iduna Park have been highly entertaining this season with a grand total of 20 goals being scored across Borussia Dortmund's last three home matches. Over 3.5 goals to be scored on Friday night has been priced at 1/1 by Betfred.
This German Bundesliga match between Borussia Dortmund and St Pauli will be played on Oct 18, 2024 and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best Borussia Dortmund vs St Pauli prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
