The seventh matchday is a test for the northern trio in the 2nd Bundesliga. Exactly there, where the three teams don’t seem to feel so comfortable, they have to pull off top performances on Saturday. This is at home with Hamburger SV, Holstein Kiel and especially FC St. Pauli have deficits away from home.
HSV expects Karlsruher SC in front of 44,000 spectators in the Volksparkstadion. At home, the North Germans lost two of their three games, while away they won everything without conceding a goal. “We like to win at home too,” said coach Tim Walter. He wants to prove that in the evening (8.30 p.m./Sport 1 and Sky). However, after initial difficulties, the Karlsruhe team are on track. They have won their last three games. According to Walter, HSV signing and right-back William Mikelbrencis will not yet see his game premiere.
A defender who wore the diamond on his chest for eleven years in different age groups would like anything but an HSV victory: Stephan Ambrosius. He’s hardly packed his bags in the Hanseatic city and swapped his jersey for that of Karlsruher SC when he’s back on the mat in the Volksparkstadion. Once a celebrated central defender at HSV, most recently only replacing the substitute.
FC St. Pauli has the opposite problem compared to HSV: hui at home, ugh away. The team of coach Timo Schultz therefore wants to get the first away win of the season at SpVgg Greuther Fürth (1 p.m. / Sky). “We have to be wide awake and become dangerous ourselves in the transition game,” said Schultz, who hopes to finally take the hurdle abroad to get the topic off the agenda.
The away reluctance at Holstein Kiel is not so pronounced. The Schleswig-Holsteiner, with seven points a home top team, have at least already achieved a success on the opponent’s place at 1. FC Magdeburg. Now they are guests at Jahn Regensburg (1 p.m. / Sky) and want to add more. “We have the right to come home with three points,” said coach Marcel Rapp. He and his team want to “fix themselves at the top”.