FC St. Pauli - FC Heidenheim

Hosts to grab eighth win of the season

TEAM NEWS

St. Pauli's Marc Hornschuh, Jan-Philipp Kalla, Waldemar Sobota, Park Yi Young and Luca-Milan Zander are all injured and will not be available against Heidenheim.

Frank Schmidt’s Heidenheim will have to do without Maxi Thiel, Kevin Lankford and Robert Glatzel.

St. Pauli

Suspended: None

Doubtful: None

Injured/unavailable: Marc Hornschuh (spinal disc), Luca-Milan Zander (ankle), Jan Philipp Kalla (pubis), Waldemar Sobota (pulled muscle), Park Yi Young (not fit)

Heidenheim

Suspended: None

Doubtful: None

Injured/unavailable: Maxi Thiel, Kevin Lankford (both pulled muscle); Robert Glatzel (torn ligament)

MATCH PREVIEW

MAIN PREDICTION: HOME WIN

St. Pauli’s excellent 2-1 win at Bielefeld in the last round lifted Markus Kauczinski’s men into second place in Germany’s second division. It was the perfect response from the side after suffering a 1-0 defeat at home against Holstein Kiel one week earlier. The Hamburg outfit have been only average at Millerntor Stadium this term, winning three and losing two of their five home league matches, but overall, their loss against Kiel has been their only defeat since mid-September, having won five and drawn one since.

Heidenheim have been one of the in-form sides in Germany’s second tier of late, with three of their last five league matches ending in wins, along with two draws. The side sealed a narrow 1-0 victory over bottom side Aue at Voith Arena at the weekend and their most recent defeat now dates back to late September, in the form of a somewhat unexpected 2-1 loss away to Regensburg. Heidenheim are sixth in the table on 19 points from a possible 36, but despite their good form, they have only won once away from home with three draws and two defeats this term.

This is arguably the standout league match of the round, with both sides capable of winning it. Both sides are among the league's in-form teams at the moment. However, I fancy St. Pauli to make home advantage count.

SECOND PREDICTION: FIRST TEAM TO SCORE – ST. PAULI

St. Pauli have opened the scoring in each of their last three home league matches against Heidenheim, so back the home side to score first in this one too.

HEAD TO HEAD

St. Pauli’s 1-0 win over Heidenheim back in August 2017 was their third home success in a row in league action in this head-to-head since losing 3-0 in November 2015 at Millerntor.