FC Schalke 04 visit FC St. Pauli on Saturday evening (23 September, 20:30). We already have the line-ups.

The FC Schalke 04 managers probably wouldn’t have thought this before the start of the season: On the seventh day of the second division, the Königsblauen already have a top-or-flop match that will set the course for the rest of the first half of the season.

If Schalke win at FC St. Pauli (8.30 pm/Sky and Sport 1), the team will move into the top half and can close the gap on promotion rivals Hamburger SV. If Schalke lose, however, they could drop to the relegation zone.

“There is no question that the task is difficult,” said Schalke coach Thomas Reis before the game. He is alluding to the Kiezkicker’s outstanding record in the 2023 calendar year. St. Pauli won 15 of 23 games, losing only two. St. Pauli finished the 2022/23 season as the best team in the second half and currently has the best defence in the league.

Reis will have to do without seven players, with top goalkeepers Marius Müller (adductor surgery) and Ralf Fährmann (Achilles tendon problems) as well as captain Simon Terodde (calf problems) missing from the squad.

Compared to the wild 4:3 rollercoaster victory over 1. FC Magdeburg a week ago, Reis changes his team in three positions. As expected, 38-year-old goalkeeper senior Michael Langer moves into the team for Müller. Ron Schallenberg has served his red suspension, replacing top talent Assan Ouédraogo (17). The playmaker is somewhat surprisingly only on the bench. Yusuf Kabadayi plays for Tobias Mohr.

St. Pauli’s coach Fabian Hürzeler warns above all of the individual strength of the Schalkers: “The Schalkers are very good individually and are capable of scoring a goal in any situation. Accordingly, we have to defend with high concentration for 90 minutes. The match is something special at 8.30 p.m. under floodlights. “