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Following their memorable 0-3 triumph away at Freiburg, St. Pauli now look to back that up with a first home win of the season against Mainz, who are averaging a point-per-game.
KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Saturday October 5th 2024: UK – 5:30pm / US ET – 12:30pm / US PT – 9:30am
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – Sky Sports / US – Some matches will be televised on ESPN channels so it is worth checking their schedules
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – Sky Go / US – ESPN+
ST. PAULI PREVIEW: FREIBURG PERFORMANCE PROVES THEY HAVE WHAT IT TAKES
Not many expected St. Pauli to come into Freiburg and turn the hosts over, but that’s exactly what the 2. Bundesliga champions did. Elias Saad and Dapo Afolayan were both brilliant as St. Pauli utilised their pace to perfection on the counter-attack, showing that clinical edge we’ve not seen this season until then.
Now the key for St. Pauli is to follow that up with more points. It doesn’t have to be a win, even a draw wouldn’t be a disaster here for St. Pauli, helping them build some momentum although they’ll be looking for the full bounty at home.
MAINZ PREVIEW: CONSECUTIVE HOME DEFEATS LEAVE FANS UNHAPPY
Mainz looked to have turned a corner following an entertaining 2-3 triumph at Augsburg, but unfortunately, they were brought crashing down to earth last weekend by Heidenheim, who beat them by two goals to nil on their own ground, Mainz’s second league defeat of the season so far.
So far, the visitors have scored eight goals this season, but conceded ten, an average of two goals per game. In order to put together a sustained run of positive results, shoring up the backline is a must.
ST. PAULI TEAM NEWS: ENFORCED CHANGE EXPECTED IN MIDFIELD
Injury to Carlo Boukhalfa means that Bo Henriksen will need to make a change to his starting line-up for this match, with Connor Metcalfe likely to be the player who comes in. Ahlers, Burchert and Zoller are all out.
PREDICTED XI: (3-4-3): Vasilj; Wahl, Smith, Mets; Saliakas, Irvine, Metcalfe, Treu; Afolayan, Eggestein, Saad
UNAVAILABLE: Ahlers (Injured), Boukhalfa (Injured), Burchert (Injured), Zoller (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE:
MAINZ TEAM NEWS: CENTRE-BACK HANCHE-OLSEN SUSPENDED
Mainz will have to do without defender Andreas Hanche-Olsen, who was sent off against Heidenheim after receiving two yellow cards off the bench. Midfielder Nikolas Veratschnig is doubtful.
PREDICTED XI: (3-4-3): Zentner; Kohr, Jenz, Leitsch; Caci, Sano, Amiri, Mwene; Lee, Burkardt, Onisiwo
UNAVAILABLE: Hanche-Olsen (Suspended)
QUESTIONABLE: Veratschnig (Injured)
ST. PAULI VS MAINZ PREDICTION
A massive opportunity lies ahead here for St. Pauli who are expected to come out of the traps flying, with Saad and Afolayan playing their most dangerous direct game. It’s hard to see Mainz being able to keep this St. Pauli side at bay. On their own patch, consider utilising the double chance market to back St. Pauli picking up at least a point here, if not all three.
ST. PAULI VS MAINZ TIP: DOUBLE CHANCE - ST. PAULI/DRAW