Hamburg's impressive run of three wins in four matches to start the spring campaign has left the Rothosen in quite a good standing indeed; should they win their game in hand on Wednesday, HSV will move to within a point of Mainz, who now occupy the fifth and potentially final Europa League spot.
Their run of form coincides with a sharp increase in squad competition among the Hamburg ranks.
In recent weeks, Mladen Petric, Joris Mathihsen, Marcell Jansen, Gojko Kacar, Collin Benjamin, Dennis Aogo and Eljero Elia have returned from lengthy absences, and are now fighting for spots in Armin Veh's first team.
"At last, we have the situation that we had hoped for last summer in terms of the composition of the squad," Bastian Reinhardt said according to HSV.de. "Competition is good for business," he added.
Looking forward to the Hamburg Derby, which was recently postponed due to heavy rainfall, Reinhardt relished the atmosphere that has been building up for many days.
"For more than a week, I have felt a Derby atmosphere. It was a strange situation after the cancellation. Therefore, I am pleased with the fast make-up scheduling. It is time that it finally takes place."
Fifteenth Place (Or Better?) Is Ours!
One week before the original scheduling of the Hamburg Derby, the match programmes at the Millerntor Stadion depicted St Pauli shoving Koeln aside, accompanied by the caption: "Fifteenth place is ours!"
Der Kiezclub went on to win that match against Koeln, by the rather emphatic margin of 3-0. After having a week off due to the canceled derby with Hamburg, St Pauli earned a comeback 3-1 win against Gladbach, propelling the relegation battlers into 12th place, albeit only by a two-point margin ahead of Kaiserslautern.
Their last two matches have been at home, meaning that St Pauli will have to find a way to replicate their form away from the Millerntor. The counter-culture side has a reputatin for mustering up immense motivation ahead of big matches, and there is no greater stage than the Hamburg derby. Ahead of Wednesday's match, Fabian Boll was diagnosed with a severe contusion in his foot, but said: Unless I am missing a leg, I will not miss the Derby."
St Pauli led the way and almost earned three points in last fall's installment of the Derby; they will be keen to put their game in hand to good use and inch further from the relegation zone.
TEAM NEWS
Hamburg
Gojko Kacar returns from suspension following a red card against Nuernberg, meaning that Armin Veh will be spoilt for choice in both midfield and central defence. The coach may grant a start to in-form winger Eljero Elia, but the Dutchman will have to first prove his value ahead of Marcell Jansen.
Probable Starting XI: Rost - Demel, Westermann, Mathijsen, Aogo - Ben-Hatira, Jarolim, Ze Roberto, Elia - Petric, van Nistelrooy
St Pauli
Bastian Oczipka and Florian Lechner missed out on Saturday's match, and their availability for Wednesday remains doubtful. Marius Ebbers is available once more, but may be forced to settle with a role off the bench as he did against Gladbach. Meanwhile, long-term casualties Fabio Morena and Carsten Rothenbach remain sidelined.
Probable Starting XI: Kessler - Thorandt, Zambrano, Gunesch, Volz - Boll, Lehmann - Bartels, Takyi, Kruse - Asamoah
Prediction
As both coaches have said in the build-up, this should be a more open game than the first derby earlier in the season. St Pauli are on a high and will give it a go in attack. Hamburg have underperformed after the winter break and not been consistent but in front of 55,000 and with Mladen Petric back in the team, with something to prove, they should nick the three points.
Editor's Prediction
Hamburg 2-1 FC St. Pauli 
