FC St. Pauli

Attack-minded defenders

Fürth's defenders have developed a penchant for getting into the opposition box this season, as evidenced by the twelve goals they have contributed – more than any other backline in the league. Maximilian Wittek (four) and Marco Caligiuri (three) have stood out in this respect. Their strikers, on the other hand, have netted just four times and provided a miserly three assists so far. The Franconians have used 30 players this term, of whom 15 have entered their names on the scoresheet.

Poor away return

Damir Buric's side have been toothless away from home this season and sit bottom of the away table with a record of just one win, five draws and nine defeats for a meagre total of eight points. Fürth's sole victory on the road came in the Franconian derby, of all games, in early March, when they condemned the then league leaders Nürnberg to a 2-0 defeat. Their home record is much better, however. A total of 30 points puts them in second place in the home table behind leaders Fortuna Düsseldorf (33).

In the doldrums

Fürth have yet to make an appearance in the top half of the table this season and their best placing so far has been 14^th, which they achieved last week. One reason for their modest showing has been their inability to turn things round when they go behind. On the 14 occasions they have found themselves chasing a game, they have taken just one point, losing 13 times.

Long-distance runner

Only Nürnberg's Hanno Behrens (370.8 km) has worked harder than Khaled Narey (358.2 km) in the second division this term. The Fürth right-back, 23, has covered an average distance of 11.55 kilometres per game and also seen more playing time (2,886 minutes in 31 appearances) than any of his teammates. Narey, who tops the internal scoring chart with six goals, is also the fastest Fürth player this season, having reached a peak speed of 34.6 km/h. The highest speed timed for a St. Pauli player, incidentally, is the 34.8 km/h recorded by Aziz Bouhaddouz.

All the ones

In the all-time second division table Fürth just have their noses in front of the Boys in Brown with 1,111 points, 11 more than the 1,000 points we have amassed at this level since the second tier of German football was reduced to a single division in 1981. Fürth also lead the way in the head-to-head record with 11 wins from 27 matches as opposed to six for us and ten draws. Saturday's visitors have come out on top in just one of the last five meetings, however, a 4-0 win in the reverse fixture this season.

Photos: Witters