Now live - Stuttgart welcomes St. Pauli

The teams are currently entering the pitch with referee Sascha Stegemann. The match will begin in a few minutes.

Last season, both of these encounters resulted in 1-0 away wins. Eggestein secured the points for St. Pauli in Stuttgart, while Woltemade secured the points for the Swabians in Hamburg. Overall, the Kiezkickers have only won three of their 23 matches against VfB Stuttgart, and today they are naturally underdogs. However, this role should suit the visitors, and we can certainly look forward to an exciting and intense match.

The situation is quite different for the visitors, who have had a wonderful start to the season and are still unbeaten. Fourth place is a great moment for St. Pauli, but the seven points are well deserved. First, the late 3-3 draw against Dortmund, then the 2-0 derby win against HSV, and most recently the 2-1 come-from-behind victory against Augsburg show that the Kiezkickers are much further ahead than last season and also display amazing resilience. This makes Blessin's team, which has developed further in terms of playing style, surely a difficult opponent today as well.

A defeat today and a false start would be perfect for Stuttgart. They opened the season with a 2-1 loss against Union Berlin, followed by a 1-0 win against Mönchengladbach, and most recently, the rather disconcerting 3-1 defeat in the derby against Freiburg after a long lead. This leaves the Swabians in twelfth place in the table, which is hardly a disaster at this early stage of the season. However, VfB's performances have been at least mixed, with many new signings still struggling to find their feet. Hoeneß has a wide range of areas to work on, and a win today would bring the necessary calm.

First, let's take a look at the lineups. Stuttgart coach Sebastian Hoeneß has made three changes compared to the last game. Assignon, Chema Andrés, and Tiago Tomás replace Vagnoman, Karazor, and Bouanani in the starting lineup. The changes, including a likely shift to a 4-3-3, had been hinted at, although Karazor's exclusion was a surprise. Jaquez and Undav are still out injured. On the other hand, Pauli coach Alexander Blessin is also rotating the squad, albeit much more moderately. Pyrka is replaced by Saliakas, who is fully fit again and thus returns to the starting lineup. Otherwise, there's no reason to change anything; Irvine, Mets, and Nemeth are still unavailable.

Welcome to the opening matchday of the Bundesliga, where VfB Stuttgart and FC St. Pauli face off. Kick-off at the MHP Arena is at 8:30 PM!