Fortuna – St Pauli

No more than three goals will be scored in Düsseldorf

Before the start of the current season in the Second Bundesliga, bookmakers offered the same odds of 10.0 on Fortuna Düsseldorf and St. Pauli winning the draw. Only Hertha Berlin and Schalke, who have fallen out of the Bundesliga, as well as Hamburg, the "eternal" contender for a return to the elite division, had better odds. The reasons to rate their opponents so highly was their play in the spring of 2023 when both Fortuna and St Pauli had long winning and unbeaten streaks. In contrast to the situation with Hertha and Schalke, analysts' predictions regarding the opponents for this match turned out to be more correct, and they will go into the face-to-face meeting as real contenders for promotion. Hamburg club in general has regained the leadership in the standings, which was lost at the end of 2023. Bookmakers have identified the guests as favourites for the upcoming meeting, offering odds of 2.39 on their victory. Fortuna spent the first half of the championship without obvious slumps and rises of the game form. Doubts about the strength of the team remained, first of all, based on the results of meetings with strong clubs. Fortuna suffered defeats to Hamburg, Greuther Fürth and Holstein Kiel. The club from Düsseldorf went into the break on a positive note, defeating Magdeburg away. The win came after the opponents scored two unanswered goals in the first half. The team also started the 2024 match programme well with a 2-2 draw against Hertha in Berlin. Fortuna are currently in fifth place and are five points behind their upcoming opponents in the top position. St Pauli stopped coping with the leading pace before the winter break. The Pirates' last win in the Second Bundesliga was recorded in Rostock at the end of November. After that, matches against Hamburg, Osnabrück and Veen invariably ended in draws. While such a result is acceptable in a derby, one point each against the last two clubs is not a championship result. In January, St. Pauli won the first game, in which Kaiserslautern could not oppose the favourite. The Hamburg club is back in the lead and is still undefeated. The fight in Düsseldorf will be an efficient one and hardly full of goals.