FC St. Pauli - VfL Bochum

St. Pauli to claim second home win of the season

TEAM NEWS

St. Pauli will be without the long-term injured Ryo Miyaichi, Marc Hornschuh, Christopher Buchtmann, Mats Moller-Deahli and Philipp Ziereis as well as the suspended Aziz Bouhaddouz.

Bochum’s Timo Perthel and Manuel Riemann are both absent with injuries.

St. Pauli

Suspended: Aziz Bouhaddouz

Doubtful: None

Injured/unavailable: Ryo Miyaichi (knee), Philipp Ziereis (muscle), Marc Hornschuh (back), Christopher Buchtmann, Mats Moller-Daehli (both unspecified)

Bochum

Suspended: None

Doubtful: None

Injured/unavailable: Timo Perthel (knee), Manuel Riemann (adductor)

MATCH PREVIEW

MAIN PREDICTION: HOME WIN

St. Pauli were involved in an exciting 2-2 home draw against Duisburg in round 17. It was their fourth draw in a row at home and sixth draw of the season. However, their home form is below average and they have only been able to claim one win out of eight matches. This is simply not good enough for a team with such high expectations. Despite having changed their coach, their results remain unchanged and it means the whole team have a lot of work to do if they want to see better days. However, they are bound to bounce back at some point and this is even more likely at their own stadium where they have great support from their fans and are unbeaten in their last four 2. Bundesliga matches.

Bochum have not been playing at their best, but recent results back them up. Following their 1-0 win at Regensburg last Saturday, they have kept three clean sheets in the last six league outings; however, they have registered two wins and four draws in those matches. Nevertheless, they have struggled in attack this season, with only 17 goals scored in 17 games. Their defence looks better with only 19 conceded and has played an important part in claiming those positive results of late.

I think home advantage will count here and expect St. Pauli to clinch the three points.

SECOND PREDICTION: TOTAL GOALS – TWO

Three of the last five meetings between these teams have seen exactly two goals and with both teams‘ attacks experiencing problems against strong defensive lines, I predict a low-scoring match here too, with two goals in total.

HEAD TO HEAD

In the last 13 league games between the two, St. Pauli have claimed six wins, while Bochum have recorded two.