SV Sandhausen - FC St. Pauli

 Low-scoring game expected between these two

TEAM NEWS

Sandhausen will again be without Mirco Born, Rick Wulle, Andrew Wooten and Korbinian Vollmann, who are all injury concerns. Furthermore, they have Tim Kister suspended for this encounter.

St. Pauli will again be without the long-term injured Ryo Miyaichi, Marc Hornschuh and Philipp Ziereis while Enver Cenk Sahin and Aziz Bouhaddouz are facing fresh knee injuries and will be unavailable for the next few weeks.

Sandhausen

Suspended: Tim Kister

Doubtful: None

Injured/unavailable: Mirco Born, Rick Wulle (both knee); Korbinian Vollmann (unspecified), Andrew Wooten (thigh)

St. Pauli

Suspended: None

Doubtful: None

Injured/unavailable: Ryo Miyaichi (knee), Philipp Ziereis (muscle), Marc Hornschuh (back), Enver Cenk Sahin (knee), Aziz Bouhaddouz (calf)

MATCH PREVIEW

MAIN PREDICTION: AWAY WIN

Sandhausen unexpectedly registered their second defeat in three games last weekend as they were beaten convincingly 2-0 by a very motivated Bochum side. The team struggled to find the same good form as in their previous matches and were clearly overrun. Coach Kenan Kocak will have been surprised by his men’s horrible performance and will have been looking for solutions during the week. He will need to ensure that Sandhausen return to their normal selves quickly. However, sitting in fourth place, their current position is really good for a small club like them.

St. Pauli produced an average home performance against bottom side Kaiserslautern last time out, and they were unable to follow up their 2-0 victory over Braunschweig with another success, with the game ending 1-1. Olaf Janssen’s side took the lead but were not able to hold it until the final whistle. St. Pauli continued their weak home performances, but they have been much stronger on their travels with four wins and just one defeat in the last five games.

St. Pauli have impressed away from home lately and I expect them to continue this streak in an attempt to close the gap to the top with a win here.

SECOND PREDICTION: FIRST HALF HAD – DRAW

Both teams have found it difficult to find the net in the first half this season, with Sandhausen and St. Pauli only scoring one of their goals within the first 45 minutes in the last three league matches. With both sides appearing to be much more clinical in front of the goal in second half, I expect a scoreless draw at half time.

HEAD TO HEAD

The last five times St. Pauli have visited Sandhausen they have picked up two wins, while the home team have also accumulated two victories by one draw. The last three matches have produced only five goals.