1. FC Heidenheim 1846 vs FC St Pauli is a match that the ordinary football fan will enjoy watching.
It is a story of two ordinary clubs who broke through to the very top of the football pyramid in their country where they will compete with football clubs backed by millionaire fans, corporations and business moguls.
1. FC Heidenheim 1846, a club situated in a German town with less than 100,000 people inhabiting it, only started playing in the German Bundesliga last season. In their first ever campaign, they performed well enough to also debut in Europe by finishing in a position that allowed them to participate in the 2024/25 UEFA Europa Conference League. Their decision to stick with Frank Schmidt since 2007 is the boldest decision that any German club has ever made and on 17 September 2023, the minnow club won their first-ever Bundesliga match on the day that Schmidt became the longest-serving manager at a single club in German football history
FC St Pauli, meanwhile, are no strangers to the top flight. However, they returned to the Bundesliga this season after a 13-year wait following their title winning 2. Bundesliga 2023/24 season. Alexander Blessin is doing what he can with St Pauli this season and they have earned a string of good results in the process.
Both teams have shown skill and promise this season and are very popular among neutrals. This is why their second Bundesliga clash will be one to watch, especially with both teams in the mid-table and relegation race.
Heidenheim last faced St Pauli at the Millerntor-Stadion and scored their first three points of the 2024/25 season. It ended Schmidt’s seven-match winless run against St Pauli and the veteran manager will be looking forward to defeating them at home in the reverse fixture so that he does not start another streak.
Heidenheim had developed a sturdy backline after one year in the Bundesliga, which die Kiezkicker did not expect. They enjoyed the better of the first half chances but their best one for the half happened when Connor Metcalfe stole the ball off a Heidenheim defender and poked the ball just wide.
Heidenheim looked happy to sit back and defend, which many interpreted as Schmidt’s reaction to being unable to beat them for years. St Pauli took the initiative and almost took the lead after the start when a cross from Jackson Irvine almost found Morgan Guilavogui when he was free on goal. Next was defender Hauke Wahl, who lacked the required composure to finish from inside the six-yard box when through on goal.
They would be made to pay for those missed chances when a Heidenheim counterattack which came against the run of play led to the opener. Paul Wanner finished cleanly with his right foot, making sure that the visitors scored from only their third shot on goal that afternoon. Later on, Jan Schöppner arrived late to bundle home a loose ball to ensure that they took all three points back to their home ground where they would be waiting for die Kiezkicker on matchday 20.
Match tickets
1. FC Heidenheim 1846 will host this clash at their 15,000-capacity stadium, Voith-Arena. St. Pauli fans may not be able to attend the game in their numbers but they are assured of at least two thousand seats in the stadium on that day. Any fan who wishes to be one of the two thousand should head over to the club’s website to get their 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 vs FC St Pauli tickets as soon as possible, so that they can be entered into the tickets ballot.
Both clubs involved in this match will also sell tickets via their other official channels and their partner platforms and affiliates, both online and offline. Registered fans will be given preference which means that any fan of either club who wants tickets from official sources have to register and join a waitlist.
To avoid this waitlist, non-registered fans can check out tickets resale websites where fans of either club will go to sell their extra tickets for cash or to exchange them for 1.FC Heidenheim tickets. Non-local fans of either club, neutrals interested in the football journeys of these two minnows, and tourists in Heidenheim who want to witness a live football match can also get tickets from ticket resale sites.
This 2024/25 Bundesliga matchday 18 clash will be played on Saturday 18 January 2025 at 5:30 PM, UK time.
Team news
Marvin Pieringer and Julian Niehues are Heidenheim’s only players who lack match fitness going into matchday 20. Both Pieringer and Niehues have injured their knee ligaments—Niehues tore a cruciate ligament—and will take some time to recover. Depending on the rate of their recovery, they could be back in action long after the 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 vs FC St Pauli match on 18 January 2025 is decided.
FC St Pauli, on the other hand, are in panic mode. They have three goalkeepers out of commission—Sören Ahlers (Knee surgery), Ben Voll (Broken jaw) and Sascha Burchert (surgery). One of their most prominent players, Connor Metcalfe, is dealing with muscular problems. They also have Simon Zoller (muscular problems), Elias Saad (Ligament injury), Scott Banks (Bone edema), Robert Wagner (Hamstring injury) and Karol Mets (Patellar tendon problems) all on the sidelines. This is a total of nine first team players who Blessin has had to navigate the last ten to twelve weeks without. Not one of them is scheduled for a comeback earlier than second week in January, which means he could be forced to turn to their academy for this crucial match.
Line-ups
Here is how we expect the teams to line up for this matchday 20 reverse fixture.
1. FC Heidenheim 1846: Müller; Föhrenbach, Siersleben, Gimber, Mainka, Traoré; Schöppner, Maloney, Kerber; Honsak, Wanner.
FC St Pauli: Vasilj; Wahl, Smith, Nemeth; Saliakas, Irvine, Boukhalfa, Treu; Afolayan, Eggestein, Guilavogui.
Prediction
The form guides of both teams suggests that this match is balanced enough to be open to any team. This means that Heidenheim, with their home advantage, can still get the short end of the stick. We predict that Schmidt will deploy similar tactics to the one he did in matchday 1 when he secured a famous opening day victory against the team that was proving to be his bogey. Blessin may opt for control this time in order to force a press. In the end, the winner will earn the result by a narrow margin.
1. FC Heidenheim 1846 2 – 1 FC St Pauli.
