St. Pauli defender reveals plan to stop Bayern Munich star

A huge challenge awaits newly promoted St. Pauli as they host league leaders Bayern Munich at the Millerntor-Stadion on Saturday. The Hamburg-based team sits 15th on the Bundesliga table after a lackluster start to their campaign. Meanwhile, Bayern Munich will aim to get all three points to solidify their position on top.

FC Bayern have scored at least one goal in every Bundesliga game this season. They have scored a whopping 22 goals in five away games in the Bundesliga. Meanwhile, St. Pauli have been incredibly poor at their home. The newly promoted club is yet to score a goal and register a win in front of their fans at the Millerntor this season. Things can go from bad to worse for St. Pauli as they host a high-flying FC Bayern side on Saturday.

Pauli’s Eric Smith believes the keyto stop Bayern is to limit Bayern’s star striker

While talking to bundesliga.com, St. Pauli defender Eric Smith spoke about the prospect of facing Bayern’s talisman Harry Kane. The Swede reveals that while it will be a tall order, they plan to deny him service from his teammates. 

"He is one of the best strikers in the world, so it is going to be tough, but I think if we are able to stop the players around him, then we can limit him as well. We will try to make the guys around him feel unsecure and unable to give him the ball in the areas he wants."

- Eric Smith, St. Pauli defender

From Smith's words, it is quite clear that Pauli will not allow Bayern players to have time on the ball, and will try to close down their passing options in order to prevent an in-form Harry Kane from getting the ball in dangerous zones. However, the Englishman, as recently demonstrated by his long-range goal against Stuttgart, also possesses the ability to score a goal out of nothing. 

St. Pauli's focus is not just on Kane

Eric Smith asserted that they are not just solely focussing on Kane since every single Bayern player could cause them major problems. Their goal would be to make the visitors as uncomfortable as possible.

FC Bayern attackers are enjoying a good run of form and it is reflected in their goal contribution numbers. Harry Kane leads the way in the numbers department but the players around him are consistently chipping in as well. Jamal Musiala has scored five times and assisted once in his last four games across all competitions. Kingsley Coman has found the back of the net in the last three Bundesliga games. Michael Olise's start to life at Bayern couldn’t have been better as the Frenchman already has five goals and two assists in the league.

Meanwhile, center-backs Dayot Upamecano and Kim Min-jae have turned the corner after a shaky start which saw Bayern suffer a lot of counterattack goals. They are now performing much better in Kompany’s high-line system and it is very much evident by the fact that Bayern have kept four consecutive clean sheets in all competitions. 

It’s safe to say Eric Smith and co. have their work cut in front of them on Saturday. We shall find out if their plan to contain Bayern’s attacking firepower succeeds or if it ends up being yet another walk in the park for the Bavarians. 

(Stats courtesy of Fotmob)