FC St. Pauli - Arminia Bielefeld

St. Pauli to secure back-to-back home wins

TEAM NEWS

St. Pauli’s Marc Hornschuh, Ryo Miyaichi, Clemens Schoppenhauer, Svend Christopher Buchtmann, Sven Brodersen and Luca-Milan Zander are still absent but are working on their comebacks. Furthermore, the team have to find replacements for Sami Allagui and Cenk Sahin over the upcoming weeks after they were sent off last weekend.

Bielefeld’s Nils Quaschner, Julian Borner and Brain Behrendt are set to miss this game with injuries.

St. Pauli

Suspended: Sami Allagui, Enver Cenk Sahin

Doubtful: None

Injured/unavailable: Marc Hornschuh (back), Clemens Schoppenhauer (shoulder), Luca-Milan Zander (thigh); Svend Brodersen, Ryo Miyaichi (both knee); Christopher Buchtmann (adductor)

Bielefeld

Suspended: None

Doubtful: None

Injured/unavailable: Nils Quaschner, Brian Behrendt (both knee); Julian Borner (calf)

MATCH PREVIEW

MAIN PREDICTION: HOME WIN

St. Pauli have given themselves a huge lifeline in the race for survival. After losing three on the spin and dropping into 16^thplace recently, an outstanding 3-0 win against fellow relegation candidates Greuther Furth at Millerntor Stadium has allowed them to climb out of the drop zone with a two-point lead over last week’s opponents. St. Pauli are now 13^th, but securing more points will be of paramount importance for them. 

Bielefeld are not giving up on the promotion playoffs. They have taken seven points from the last nine on offer following their 3-2 home win against relegated Kaiserslautern last Friday, but trailing third-placed Holstein Kiel by five points, they will need to win their last two games and hope for Kiel to drop points. Before their recent revival, Arminia looked to have blown their promotion chances completely after three winless games. Jeff Saibene’s men have dug their heels in and a win at Millerntor-Stadium on Sunday will take it to the final day. Whatever the outcome, it has been an excellent season for them.

I’ll be backing a narrow St. Pauli victory this Sunday.

SECOND PREDICTION: FIRST HALF HAD – HOME WIN

St. Pauli have been leading at half time in two of their last three home league matches. Have a punt on St. Pauli to win the first half against Bielefeld.

HEAD TO HEAD

St. Pauli have the edge in this head-to-head, with seven wins, one draw and four defeats at their home ground. However, they have not beaten Bielefeld in the last two meetings overall, losing once and drawing once.