FC St. Pauli

Bogey team FCSP

With ten wins, four draws and eight defeats, St. Pauli have a narrow advantage over Duisburg in the head-to-head record. In recent years, however, the Boys in Brown have become something of a bogey team for the Zebras, who have won none of the last 11 meetings. MSV's last victory dates back to 6 December 2002, since when there have been eight defeats and three draws.

Record-chasing Stoppelkamp

The newly promoted side have chalked up 21 goals so far this season, six of which have come from the boot of Moritz Stoppelkamp. The versatile attacking player is well on the way to breaking his previous best from the 2009/2010 season, when he registered nine times for RW Oberhausen after joining them from Karlsruhe in the summer. Stoppelkamp will not be able to resume his record chase until next year, though, having suffered ligament damage in his left ankle in the 2-0 defeat of Greuther Fürth last time out. The injury means the 30-year-old will miss Sunday's game at the Millerntor as well as the final game of the year at Dynamo Dresden.

Double goal threat

Moritz Stoppelkamp is not the only Duisburg player to have demonstrated his goalscoring ability this term. Goals from Borys Tashchy and Cauly Oliveira Souza gave the Zebras a 2-0 home win over Fürth last week and took their tallies to six and five for the season respectively.

Combative centre-backs

Strong-tackling central defenders may have been the hallmark of our league campaign thus far, but Duisburg have also stood out in this respect. Gerrit Nauber ranks fifth in the league with 67.9 per cent of duels won, while Dustin Bomheuer sits in eighth place on 64.6 per cent. Lasse Sobiech continues to lead the way in terms of tackles won with 73.8 per cent; Christopher Avevor (66.7 per cent) is sixth.

Dual interceptors

In left-back Kevin Wolze and midfielder Lukas Fröde the Zebras have two of the league's best interceptors. Thanks to his good positional play, Wolze has already intercepted 53 passes and leads the rankings ahead of Kiel's Dominik Schmidt (47). Fröde has 46 interceptions to his name and shares third place with Rafael Czichos, also of Kiel.

Duisburg evergreens

With 16 matches played, seven outfield players and eight goalkeepers have yet to miss a minute of play. In left-back Kevin Wolze and centre-backs Dustin Bomheuer and Gerrit Nauber, not one but three MSV outfield players feature among the league's non-stop dynamos. In addition, goalkeeper Mark Flekken has missed just 45 minutes, Moritz Stoppelkamp 53 minutes, though he is now injured.

Photos: Eibner