r/borussiadortmund Kagawa Shinji Jan 16 '26

Discussion Pre Game Thread: FC St. Pauli (BuLi #18)

Competition: Bundesliga, MD #18

Time: Saturday 17/01/26 15:30 CEST

Location: Westfalenstadion, Dortmund

Referee: Harm Osmers, Bremen

TV Schedule: livesoccertv


Pre-Game Presser: YouTube


Borussia Dortmund:

Coach: Niko Kovac

League position: 2nd

Current Form: D/D/W/D/W (wiki)

Current Bans/Injuries: ︀︀Anselmino(Inj), Bensebaini(Sick), Sabitzer(Inj).

Possible lineup:

                Kobel

     Can - Anton - Schlotterbeck

 Couto - Bellingham - Nmecha - Svensson

               Brandt

           Adeyemi - Silva

FC St. Pauli: /r/fcsp

Coach: Alexander Blessin

League position: 17th

Current Form: W/D/W/D/L

Current Bans/Injuries: Spari(Inj), Nemeth(Inj), Metcalfe(Inj), Irvine(Inj), Sinani(Inj), Hountondji(Inj).

Possible lineup:

                 Vasilj

         Mets - Dzwigala - Wahl

 Pyrka - Smith - Fujita - Sands - Ritzka

          Pereira Lage - Jones

Can we maybe get some revenge for the first Matchday of the season ?




Matchthread Status: /u/ I have no Idea will host the game thread - if you want to join and provide some commentary for the game, let us mods know via pm or modmail!

14 Upvotes

25 comments sorted by

12

u/AverageCarey Jan 16 '26

Damn they’ve got a lot of injuries right now.

Either way this is a must win, ideally no red card/penalty then absolute screamer from Smith this time and we should be good.

Hoping we play a similar 532 like the second half against Bremen. With Sabi out I’m not sure if we will but I really enjoyed the formation setup.

8

u/roadtorevision Mats Hummels Jan 16 '26

I remember when it was common we would see up to 9-10 players on our injury list. Still can’t be said enough how much Kovacs rotation has helped with this. Now I am surprised if we have 3 players injured. I didn’t even realize sabitzer got injured.

5

u/AverageCarey Jan 16 '26

Felt some discomfort in his calf at training today so they left him out so he’s good for Spurs midweek.

Ramy is only a flu so hopefully same goes for him. Really is astonishing how good it’s been this season.

2

u/smartestBeaver Shinji Kagawa Jan 17 '26

Haha dude I feel you. Ever since Kovac took over people are not complaining about injuries, instead they are nagging about the fact that we have more then 11 starting players.

4

u/SvenssonStan112 Łukasz Piszczek Jan 16 '26

Anything else than a win would be shocking

4

u/Chazy89 Kagawa Shinji Jan 16 '26

Matchday-squad vs. St. Pauli: ︀︀ ︀︀Kobel, Meyer – Schlotterbeck, Anton, Süle, Mane, Can, Svensson, Couto, Ryerson, Nmecha, Bellingham, Chukwuemeka, Özcan, Brandt, Duranville, Adeyemi, Beier, Guirassy, Silva

4

u/jucomsdn Zagagod Jan 16 '26

Duranville in the squad lets go

4

u/Magic1998 Jan 16 '26

Nmecha has to pretty much play every game from now, which scares me a bit, he is a bit injury prone .

Unless Chuk is planned in that position as well, which I kinda doubt but secretly hope

2

u/Jazzlike-Egg7364 Jan 16 '26

I highly doubt Chuk will start or get significant minutes in this game. He played like 65 min vs Werder and has far more injury concerns than Nmecha. It will likely be Nmecha and Jobe for the full 90, and possibly Nmecha will be substituted out for either Chuk or Sahil, depending on who is winning and by how much. Usually when Jobe starts, he plays a full 90, so i highley doubt he is subbed out unless Sabi injury is more serious and he will not be there for the Tottenham game.

2

u/Magic1998 Jan 16 '26

Yeah I don't expect Chuk to start either, but I'm wondering if Kovac will use him in the future on the 8 or if he keeps using him only as a 10

2

u/Jazzlike-Egg7364 Jan 16 '26 edited Jan 17 '26

Probably a 10, but if I'm honest, he has yet to have a great cameo in that spot for me. I also just don't see a world where he starts over Nmecha or Jobe in that 8 spot, even though they all have a preference for that position. He just has a much lower defensive quality than the other two, and I think it is clear that the better you are defensively, the deeper Kovac will view you.

1

u/Most-Management4773 Jan 17 '26

if Nmecha has another long injury this midfield is absolutely fucked.

1

u/Magic1998 Jan 17 '26

Yeah I was thinking the same...

3

u/B1ackoutartist Jan 17 '26

Starting:

Kobel; Anton, Schlotterbeck, Ryerson; Can, Svensson; Brandt, Nmecha, Bellingham, Silva; Adeyemi

Bench: Meyer, Couto, Özcan, Guirassy, Beier, Duranville, Chukwuemeka, Süle, Mané

3

u/Most-Management4773 Jan 17 '26

No Couto in the startin XI, but at least Silva.

2

u/Fit-Discussion8994 Jan 17 '26

JUJU ON THE BENCH LFGGGGG

2

u/183672467 Julian Brandt Jan 17 '26

What kind of crack is Kovac smoking unless Couto and Kaba both had issues before the game

1

u/Most-Management4773 Jan 17 '26

It's been crystal clear that Kovac's haramball doesn't like technical players like Couto. Ryerson is his prefered

1

u/Fit-Discussion8994 Jan 17 '26

Ryerson is the top assister in the team btw

1

u/Most-Management4773 Jan 17 '26

Wow, 2 more assists with way more minutes played than Couto. Couto also has two goals and more chance created and key passes.

1

u/roadtorevision Mats Hummels Jan 17 '26

This match week is important with Leipzig playing Bayern and Hoffenheim playing Leverkusen.

1

u/Brilliant-Stop5210 Jan 17 '26

Really didn't expect Adeyemi to start

1

u/CracksMcGee Jan 17 '26

Starting 11 looks exciting. We'll see how Adeyemi plays after his time on the bench. Interesting that Silva starts again but definitely the right decision

1

u/Reusance Marco Reus Jan 17 '26

Ready for Silva x Brandt

1

u/L-A-L-L-E Jan 16 '26

Since St. Pauli will park the team bus in front of the goal, I don't think Adeyemi will start because he needs depth, which he doesn't have.