St. Pauli vs. Hoffenheim preview: Can either side return to winning ways? | OneFootball

St. Pauli

St. Pauli may have been relieved by the timing of the international window after experiencing a dip in form in the lead-up to the two-week break. After taking seven points from their first three league games, Alexander Blessin’s side were stopped in their tracks by a three-game losing run against Stuttgart, Bayer Leverkusen and Werder Bremen.

They will be desperate to avoid another defeat on Sunday, so they should try to draw inspiration from the fact that they completed a league double over Hoffenheim last season. The Kiezkicker claimed a 2-0 victory in November’s away fixture, before they picked up a 1-0 win in March’s home encounter. Incidentally, since that result in March, St. Pauli have conceded in seven consecutive Bundesliga home matches.

Blessin will be challenging his team to strike first on Sunday, having seen his side concede the first goal in five of their six league games this term, including in each of their opening three home outings.

Team News

David Nemeth remains sidelined through injury, while summer signing Ricky-Jade Jones is not quite ready to feature in the matchday squad following his injury struggles. However, St. Pauli captain Jackson Irvine is available for selection and could be on the bench on Sunday.

Predicted lineup: Vasilj; Dźwigała, Smith, Ritzka; Pyrka, Sands, Sinani, Fujita, Oppie; Kaars, Pereira Lage

Hoffenheim

Like their hosts, Hoffenheim’s form has tailed off following a promising start to the season. Die Kraichgauer recorded two victories in their opening three matches, before they lost momentum with a three-game winless run. Christian Ilzer’s side fell to a heavy 4-1 defeat to Bayern Munich prior to their 1-1 away draw against Freiburg. They then lost narrowly in their meeting with Köln before the international break, with the 1-0 defeat prolonging their wait for their first home win of the season.

While they have struggled on home turf, Hoffenheim have proven to be a tough nut to crack on their travels, having dropped just two points in their first three away league matches. In fact, they are have put together a five-game unbeaten away league run since losing 3-2 to Freiburg in April.

Having failed to win their last three head-to-head games, Hoffenheim head into Sunday’s fixture with the objective of beating St. Pauli for the first time since picking up a 1-0 away win in August 2010.

Team News

Having been out of action for more than a year, Ozan Kabak is set to make his long-awaited return to the matchday squad for the meeting with St. Pauli. However, the visitors are unable to call upon Hennes Behrens, Valentin Gendrey, Koki Machida and Adam Hložek.

Predicted lineup: Baumann; Coufal, Hranáč, Hajdari, Bernardo; Kramarić, Avdullahu, Burger, Touré; Lemperle, Asllani