Looking to build on their first league win of the campaign, Mainz host a Borussia Dortmund side who have still only dropped two points.
Match News and Current Form
Mainz made a rocky start to the Bundesliga season, but a 4-1 hammering of Augsburg at the weekend suggests they might finally be up and running. That result was particularly surprising given that they had previously netted just one goal from a measly seven shots on target across a three-match winless run to open the campaign (D1, L2), and even that was an 89th minute penalty. At the other end, Bo Henriksen’s side remain without a clean sheet in the league in 15 games since February, despite the fact only two teams in the division enter this round having faced fewer shots on target than the 05ers’ 13.
Worryingly for the hosts, one of those is visitors Borussia Dortmund (11), who kept their third successive league clean sheet in beating Wolfsburg 1-0 on Sunday. They head into the weekend in second place as one of two unbeaten teams and with the Bundesliga’s joint-best defence, conceding just three goals. Enthusiasm might be tempered by the fact the three teams Niko Kovač’s side have beaten are all in the bottom half ahead of this round, but this is still the club’s joint-best start to a campaign at this stage in ten years, providing fans with hope that a title drought that stretches back to 2011/12 could be ended.
Head-to-Head History
Mainz have won their last two home H2Hs while scoring exactly three goals each time, but their record against Dortmund is otherwise poor, with only four victories across 21 meetings since 2015 (D4, L13).
Win ProbabilityOpta by StatsPerform
Hot Stats and Streaks
Eleven of Mainz’s last 15 Bundesliga outings have seen both teams score.
A joint-low one of Mainz’s four league games this season has produced 3+ goals.
Dortmund are one of two Bundesliga teams yet to concede before half-time this season.
Dortmund have scored at least twice in six successive away league games (W4, D2).
Key Players to Watch and Missing Players
Paul Nebel returned from suspension to score against Augsburg, and the Mainz midfielder has history in this fixture, netting in his two previous H2Hs (W1, L1). Dortmund’s Karim Adeyemi was also on target last weekend with a strike that means he has netted first or last in seven of his last eight scoring appearances.
