On Sunday, 26 January 2025, the men's team of 1. FC Union Berlin will face FC St. Pauli. Kick off at the Millerntor Stadium in Hamburg is at 17:30.

The lie of the land

Both sides will go into Sunday’s game off the back of a turbulent fortnight. The Kiezkickers started theirs with two 1-0 defeats against Frankfurt and Bochum but were able to redeem themselves last weekend with a 2-0 win in Heidenheim, with Johannes Eggestein and Morgan Guilavogui the match winners.

Union have also had a rollercoaster. After 2-0 defeats against Heidenheim and Augsburg, they managed to end a 10 game winless streak when they beat Mainz 2-1 at home last Sunday.

The Opponents

FC St. Pauli's trademark in the 2024/25 Bundesliga season is their tireless running. No team have covered more kilometres than them – and in Jackson Irvine, they have the second-most industrious player in the league in their ranks.

Despite all that running, their return in front of goal remains modest. With only 14 scored, Pauli have the weakest attack in the league, and this is especially a problem at home. The Hamburg side have not scored in seven of their previous eight games at the Millerntor. The extra miles put in in defence are paying off, however. FCSP have kept six clean sheets and only Bayern have conceded fewer goals than their 21.

This leaves them 14th in the Bundesliga table, with a goal difference of 14 to 21. Johannes Eggestein, who was born in Hanover, has been directly involved in six of the goals scored and is something of an offensive mainstay for the Hanseatic club.

The head to head

The sides have met 28 times, with Union winning, Pauli nine, while six games have ended in a draw. The only previous Bundesliga meeting between the sides, earlier this season, ended with Union winning 1-0.

The personnel

Union's head coach Steffen Baumgart is without Andrej Ilic, David Preu, Oluwaseun Ogbemudia und Yannic Stein for the trip to Hamburg

The reunions

For two Union players, the game will have a special significance. Aljoscha Kemlein, the 20-year-old midfielder, was loaned to St. Pauli during the second half of last season and played a major role in their promotion through his convincing 17 appearances in the brown-and-white jersey.

Tom Rothe also knows FCSP from his youth. From 2018 to 2021, the full-back played for their youth team before moving to the Borussia Dortmund U19s.

The coaches’ views ahead of the game

“St. Pauli have settled in well in the Bundesliga and, with the change of coach, have been able to build on the style of play from last season in the second division,” said Union head coach, Steffen Baumgart, during his regular pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon. “What's more, like us, they are a team that works hard, which is why it will be an intense game in which the little things will be crucial.”

Baumgart’s opposite number, Alexander Blessin, meanwhile had this to say ahead of Sunday’s clash. “It will be a duel that will demand everything from us. Union are coming to Hamburg with a bit of swagger. On the last match day, they went back to their usual back five formation and played some intense football. But we want to give our all to win for the second game in a row.”

 Service information

Almost 3,000 Unioners’ will be travelling to Hamburg for the game. The Union-Fahr-Zeughaus will also be there. Information on visiting the stadium can be found here (German).

The game will be broadcast live on DAZN. There will also be an audio stream on rbb24 Inforadio and on rbb24. As usual, Union will also provide information on the game via the club's own live ticker, as well as providing live updates in English and Spanish on Twitter.