Heidenheim vs. St. Pauli preview: Two relegation rivals face off | OneFootball

Heidenheim

After losing their final seven league games of 2024, Heidenheim will be encouraged by the start they have made to the new calendar year, having taken four points from their first two matches after the winter break. They got the new year up and running with a 2-0 home win over Union Berlin, before they fought back on three occasions to take a point from Wednesday’s away clash with Werder Bremen. Jan Schöppner and Luca Kerber netted the first two equalisers, before Léo Scienza netted a 95th-minute leveller to cancel out Bremen’s third goal of the contest. As a result of that point, Heidenheim moved above Hoffenheim and out of the bottom three on goal difference.

After ending a run of five consecutive away league defeats, Frank Schmidt’s side will now be looking to claim a Bundesliga win on the road for the first time since beating Mainz 2-0 at the end of September. They will also be hoping to produce a strong defensive display after conceding 14 goals across their last four Bundesliga away games.

Team News

Heidenheim are unable to call upon Mathias Honsak and Julian Niehues due to injury.

St. Pauli

St. Pauli are currently sitting above Heidenheim on goal difference despite failing to take anything from their opening two matches. They started the year with a 1-0 home defeat against Eintracht Frankfurt, before they experienced a repeat of that scoreline in Wednesday’s away clash with Bochum. Philipp Hofmann scored the decisive goal to condemn St. Pauli to their fourth defeat in five league matches.

Alexander Blessin’s side have now failed to score in 10 of their 17 Bundesliga games this season - three more than any other side in the division. Taking that statistic into account, it is unsurprising that St. Pauli are the lowest scorers in the top flight this season. They hope that Saturday’s outing will present them with the opportunity to demonstrate an improvement in the final third, especially as Heidenheim have the Bundesliga’s third-worst defensive record.

St. Pauli have won six of their previous eight meetings with Heidenheim, although they lost their first-ever Bundesliga encounter in August. However, they have won each of their last three competitive away games against Heidenheim.

Team News

St. Pauli are expected to be without Sascha Burchert, Simon Zoller, Connor Metcalfe, Robert Wagner and Karol Mets. Meanwhile, Adam Dźwigała will start a two-game ban after being sent off in stoppage time of the narrow loss to Bochum