Bayer Leverkusen vs St. Pauli

Bayer Leverkusen’s stuttering Bundesliga title defense faces a must-win home clash against newcomers St. Pauli at the BayArena.

Reigning champions Bayer Leverkusen came flying out of the traps from November’s international break, winning all four competitive fixtures, including a morale-boosting 1-0 triumph against Bayern Munich in midweek DFB-Pokal action. Back-to-back high-scoring wins against Heidenheim and Union Berlin have propelled ‘Die Werkself’ back into contention for the Bundesliga title, moving them within a seven-point distance of table-topping Bayern. Seeking a third consecutive league victory for the first time this season, Leverkusen can draw confidence from an eye-catching ten-game unbeaten home streak against St. Pauli (W6, D4). On top of that, Xabi Alonso’s men haven’t lost any of their last 13 top-flight encounters against newly promoted sides (W10, D3). But just one clean sheet in 12 Bundesliga matches this season is the joint-fewest by a defending champion at this stage in the last 40 years.

On the other hand, St. Pauli’s bid to protect their top-flight status in their first Bundesliga campaign in over a decade received a significant boost last weekend as they dismantled fellow promoted rivals Holstein Kiel 3-1 to steer a point clear of the bottom three. The visitors head into proceedings in a decent mood, having won two of their last four league matches (L2) after only claiming one triumph in the first eight rounds (D2, L5). St. Pauli’s next assignment is to win consecutive Bundesliga outings for the first time this season and, for that matter, since February 2011! Despite facing long odds, Alexander Blessin’s charges deserve the benefit of the doubt, considering the majority of their Bundesliga points this season came on the road (6/11).