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Wolfsburg
Bundesliga | Gameweek 30
Apr 30, 2023 at 4.30pm UK
 
Mainz logo

Wolfsburg
3 - 0
Mainz

Wind (5', 28'), Bornauw (13')
Bornauw (86')
FT(HT: 3-0)

Bell (45+2'), Kohr (54'), Caricol (66')

Preview: Wolfsburg vs. Mainz 05 - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Sunday's Bundesliga clash between Wolfsburg and Mainz 05, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Wolfsburg will be hoping to leapfrog Mainz 05 in the Bundesliga table by beating them on Sunday.

The visitors, meanwhile, will be looking to build on their sensational 3-1 victory against Bayern Munich last weekend.


Match preview

VfL Wolfsburg's Ridle Baku reacts  on January 31, 2023© Reuters

Wolfsburg recorded their own impressive win last time out, with Niko Kovac recording their third win in four matches on the road by thrashing relegation contenders VfL Bochum by five goals to one.

Goals from Matthias Svanberg, Jakub Kaminski and Patrick Wimmer provided the Wolves with a comfortable three-goal cushion at half time, before Svanberg doubled his personal tally for the afternoon little more than 10 minutes after the break to put any minor doubts about the result at Vonovia Ruhrstadion to bed.

Moritz Broschinski and Luca Waldschmidt exchanged blows late on, but claiming all three points keeps Wolfsburg firmly in the hunt towards achieving European qualification spot at the end of the campaign.

Indeed, should seventh place prove enough for a European spot, Sunday's meeting between these sides could have a huge bearing on which side represents Germany in the Europa Conference League next season, although catching Bayer Leverkusen - who have an important Europa League semi-final tie potentially set to distract them - in sixth is not entirely out of the equation for either team.

Mainz 05's Ludovic Ajorque celebrates scoring their first goal with teammates on April 22, 2023© Reuters

After finishing eighth in his first full season in charge last time around, Bo Svensson will be hoping to hold off Wolfsburg and potentially take Mainz back into Europe for the first time since the 2016-17 campaign.

Die Nullfunfer have put together a hugely impressive unbeaten run of 10 league games within the past few months, culminating in their stunning 3-1 win against the reigning champions last weekend.

Sadio Mane had fired the Bavarians into a half-time lead, but Mainz possess the capability to take the game away from any opponents in a flash, and so it proved once again with Ludovic Ajorque, Leandro Barreiro and Aaron Caricol scoring three goals within 14 second half minutes to blow the title race wide open.

Svensson will be keen for his players to keep pushing between now and the end of the season as, although they have almost certainly left it too late in terms of catching the top four, finishing within the top six to guarantee European football is a realistic target for them.

Wolfsburg Bundesliga form:

Mainz 05 Bundesliga form:


Team News

Wolfsburg's Patrik Wimmer celebrates scoring their first goal with Kevin Paredes on March 12, 2023© Reuters

Wolfsburg will be without Micky van de Ven after the defender incurred a one-match suspension due to being booked against Bochum, with Nicolas Cozza set to replace him at left-back.

Kilian Fischer, Kevin Paredes, Paulo Otavio, Lukas Nmecha and Bartol Franjic all remain sidelined through injury, but Omar Marmoush and Sebastiaan Bornauw should be able to shake off minor issues to be available for selection if called upon.

Mainz, meanwhile, will travel without Jonathan Burkardt due to a long-term knee injury, but Edmilson Fernandes should have recovered from a knock to make the trip to Lower Saxony.

After beating Bayern last time out, Svensson is unlikely to make any changes to his starting XI, meaning Ajorque will be closely supported by Karim Onisiwo and Lee Jae-sung once again.

Wolfsburg possible starting lineup:
Casteels; Baku, Bornauw, Lacroix, Cozza; Svanberg, Arnold, F. Nmecha; Wimmer, Wind, Kaminski

Mainz 05 possible starting lineup:
Zentner; Fernandes, Bell, Hanche-Olsen; Widmer, Barreiro, Kohr, Caci; Stach, Onisiwo; Ajorque


SM words green background

We say: Wolfsburg 1-2 Mainz 05

Mainz have built serious momentum for themselves with an unbeaten run of 10 matches, and they should be full of confidence after dispatching Bayern last weekend.

Wolfsburg have failed to win any of their last six home games and, although four of those have ended in draws, we can envisage a narrow victory for the away side on Sunday.



For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.




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Written by
Brett Curtis

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Game History

How you voted: Wolfsburg vs Mainz

Wolfsburg
36.5%
Draw
25.7%
Mainz 05
37.8%
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1Bayern MunichBayern15113147133436
2Bayer LeverkusenB. Leverkusen1595137211632
3Eintracht FrankfurtFrankfurt1583435231227
4RB Leipzig158342420427
5Mainz 05Mainz157442820825
6Werder Bremen157442625125
7Borussia MonchengladbachBorussia M'bach157352520524
8Freiburg157352124-324
9Stuttgart156542925423
10Borussia DortmundDortmund146442521422
11Wolfsburg146353125621
12Union BerlinUnion Berlin154561419-517
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14St Pauli154291219-714
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18VfL BochumVfL Bochum1513111335-226


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