FC St. Pauli

Relegation worries

Not much Is going according to plan for SV Sandhausen this season. Apart from a brief spell between gameweeks 13 and 18, they have been anchored in the drop zone all season. The previous two campaigns gave no cause for concern, with the club finishing 10th and 11th respectively. The last time Sandhausen had occupied one of the bottom three places was on matchday 3 of the 2016/17 season.

Away win

Sandhausen ended a barren run last Sunday when they won 1-0 at FC Magdeburg, their first success on the road in 165 days. Since that 2-0 victory at Aue in late September, SVS have drawn twice and lost six times.

Strikers

Andrew Wooten proved to be the matchwinner at Magdeburg. His strike, the only goal of the game, was his ninth this season. Strike partner Fabian Schleusener also has nine goals to his name. Wooten and Schleusener have contributed 18 of 25 Sandhausen’s goals this term, a quota of 72 per cent. No other player duo accounts for such a high proportion of goals scored.

Fairness

Sandhausen have been one of the fairest teams in the league this season, having picked up just 47 yellow cards in total. Only six teams have received fewer bookings. When it comes to sendings-off, Uwe Koschinat’s side have their noses in front. Sandhausen are the only team not to have a player dismissed this season. By comparison, FC Ingolstadt have already had seven expulsions (two straight reds and five second yellows), while Ersin Zehir is the only St. Pauli player to be given his marching orders (for a second bookable offence at Paderborn).

Tackling

Sandhausen are not only fair in the tackles, they are also very successful. Of the 5,498 challenges contested, they have won 2,840, i.e. 51.66 per cent – a league best. Places 2 to 4 are taken by Arminia Bielefeld (51.47 per cent), FC Magdeburg (50.67 per cent) and our very own Boys in Brown (50.63 per cent).

Closing stages

Sandhausen have shipped 38 goals so far this season. Goalkeepers Marcel Schuhen (13 appearances) and Niklas Lomb (12) have been beaten most often in the last 15 minutes of each half. Eight goals have been conceded in the 15 minutes before the break. We are the only team to have let in more in this period (10). In the final quarter of hour plus time added on, this number climbs as high as 14 for Sandhausen. Only MSV Duisburg and FC Magdeburg have been more vulnerable from the 76th minute.

Photos: Eibner