FC St. Pauli

Mediocre second half

On completion of the first half of the season Heidenheim occupied fourth place in the league table and harboured hopes of promotion to the top flight. Frank Schmidt's side have been unable to replicate that form in 2017, however, registering just two wins (2-0 against Würzburg and 1-0 against Karlsruhe) since the turn of the year.

Balanced record

This is Heidenheim's third season in the second division since gaining promotion in the summer of 2014. Their record at this level – 33 wins, 33 defeats and 32 draws – could hardly be more balanced, while the 30 games this term have produced ten victories, ten draws and ten losses.

Four defeats after going ahead

Only VfB Stuttgart (22), Eintracht Braunschweig (21), Union Berlin (20) and Hannover 96 (18) have gone in front more often than Heidenheim (17). Unlike the league's top four teams, however, FCH have lost four games after taking the lead, a feat matched only by bottom two sides Bielefeld and Karlsruhe. Heidenheim were 2-0 up against Bielefeld last week, only to concede twice in three minutes to be pegged back to 2-2. Sebastian Griesbeck was then sent off, but Frank Schmidt's side hung on to draw and thus avoid their fifth defeat from a winning position.

Schnatterer prolific on home turf

Marc Schnatterer has scored ten goals and made another 12 this season. Interestingly, most of his strikes have come at home. The 31-year-old, who has featured in every game so far, has scored eight times at the Voith Arena but only twice away from home. In comparison, FCSP marksman Aziz Bouhaddouz has notched six of his 13 goals at the Millerntor and seven on the road.

Most fouls committed

No player has been guilty of more fouls in the league this season than Heidenheim's Tim Kleindienst. The striker has committed 84 infringements in 23 appearances to lead the fouls table ahead of Würzburg's Nejmeddin Daghfous (73) and Dresden's Marco Hartmann (67). Kleindienst missed last week's game against Bielefeld due to a one-match ban but will be eligible to play again at the Millerntor.

Verhoek on target

John Verhoek joined Heidenheim last summer after a three-year spell at the Millerntor. The striker has scored five times this season and provided three assists. Verhoek has registered 31 attempts on goal in his 24 appearances, of which 18 were on target. In terms of shooting accuracy, Verhoek (58.1 per cent) ranks twelfth in the second division, a category led by Karlsruhe's five-goal striker Dimitris Diamantakos (70.8 per cent). Four-goal Cenk Sahin (65 per cent) has registered the most attempts on target for the Boys in Brown this term, the fourth-highest percentage in Bundesliga 2.

Photo: Pressefoto Eibner