Freitag, 29. März 2019

FC St. Pauli - MSV Duisburg

St. Pauli to get back on track with home league victory

TEAM NEWS
St. Pauli's Philipp Ziereis and Henk Veerman are both injured and will not be available for the rest of the season.

Duisburg’s Christian Gartner, Borys Tashchy and Sebastian Neumann remain sidelined.

St. Pauli
Suspended: None
Doubtful: None
Injured/unavailable: Philipp Ziereis, Henk Veerman (both knee)

Duisburg
Suspended: None
Doubtful: None
Injured/unavailable: Christian Gartner, Sebastian Neumann (both knee); Borys Tashchy (Achilles)

MATCH PREVIEW
MAIN PREDICTION: HOME WIN
St. Pauli’s surge towards the playoff place has slowed down somewhat of late after losing their last two league outings. After 1-0 back-to-back league wins against Ingolstadt at home and Paderborn on the road, St. Pauli were beaten 4-0 at home by second-placed Hamburg before falling to another league defeat by the same devastating scoreline against Sandhausen away before the international break. Sitting in fourth, the team are currently four points adrift of third-placed Union Berlin.

Since arriving at Schauinslandreisen Arena at the beginning of October, Duisburg boss Torsten Lieberknecht has picked up just five wins, whilst drawing four and losing eight of his 17 league matches. Following their 1-1 draw away at Jahn Regensburg two weeks ago, the Zebras have also won only one of their last five league matches, drawing two and losing two. The club are still in the relegation zone at present and two points from safety, but with one league match in hand. They have claimed more points away from home (12) than on their own ground (nine) in league action.

With St. Pauli aiming for the top three, this is a must-win game for the Hamburg based club. The hosts should be too strong for struggling Duisburg at the Millerntor and I expect them to clinch all three points.

SECOND PREDICTION: HILO - LOW
Five of the last six league meetings between St. Pauli and Duisburg have been low-scoring affairs. I expect that trend to continue and predict two total goals or fewer.

HEAD TO HEAD
St. Pauli have won three, drawn one and lost only one of their last five league encounters with Duisburg over the past four years.

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