Mainz 05 host newly-promoted Stuttgart in a fixture both sides will see as a significant opportunity to pick up some much-needed points in their respective fights for survival.
Both teams suffered defeat in their first outing of the campaign - Mainz lost 3-1 at RB Leipzig, while Stuttgart were beaten 3-2 at home by Freiburg - and will be eager to redeem themselves.
Match preview
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Mainz finished 13th in the Bundesliga last season, just three places above the drop zone, and may look to simply maintain their top-flight status once more this term - as has been the case over the last four seasons.
The club have not kicked on from their sixth-placed finish in the 2015-16 season, finishing no higher than 12th but no lower than 15th since.
However, they now enter their 12th consecutive season in the Bundesliga and have developed a knack for doing just enough to keep themselves above the relegation zone.
And so it was last season, as Mainz lost 14 of their first 20 league games before losing just five of the subsequent 14 fixtures to secure safety.
Despite this, Mainz's defensive record last term remains particularly concerning. They conceded three or more goals on 10 occasions, including an 8-0 battering by Leipzig.
Stuttgart will be hoping to exploit this defensive frailty as they visit the Opel Arena on Saturday afternoon.
They return to the top-flight after just a single season in the second tier, finishing second behind Arminia Bielefeld and securing automatic promotion.
Stuttgart have bounced between the top two divisions in recent seasons, going down in 2016 before being promoted the following year and lasting two terms in the Bundesliga before their recent relegation and promotion - they will hope to make this stay a more permanent one.
Mainz 05 Bundesliga form: L
Stuttgart Bundesliga form: L
Team News
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Mainz head coach Achim Beierlorzer must cope without an injured quartet for whom this game is likely to come too soon.
Ji Dong-won is definitely out, whilst Pierre Kunde, Stefan Bell and Edimilson Fernandes are all very unlikely to recover in time either.
Stuttgart boss Pellegrino Matarazzo, however, has a lengthier list of absentees to contend with.
Arsenal loanee Konstantinos Mavropanos joins Lilian Egloff, Nicolas Gonzalez, Philipp Forster and Erik Thommy on the sidelines, but all five are expected back fairly soon.
The same cannot be said for Maxime Awoudja, however, who is likely to be out until December with an Achilles tendon problem.
Mainz 05 possible starting lineup:
Zentner, Baku, St. Juste, Niakhate, Brosinski; Barreiro, Latza; Burkardt, Quaison, Onisiwo; Mateta.
Stuttgart possible starting lineup:
Kobel; Anton, Kaminski, Kempf; Endo; Massimo, Wamangituka, Castro, Mangala; Klimowicz, Didavi.
We say: Mainz 05 3-2 Stuttgart
Neither side showed a particular aptitude for defending in their opening fixtures and both will likely approach the game positively in the hope of claiming all three points. The more established home side could edge out their newly-promoted opponents in what may well be an entertaining, high-scoring game.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting under 3.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Under 3.5:dataData Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Stuttgart win with a probability of 43.24%. A win for Mainz 05 had a probability of 32.51% and a draw had a probability of 24.3%.
The most likely scoreline for a Stuttgart win was 1-2 with a probability of 9.03%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (8.25%) and 0-2 (6.63%). The likeliest Mainz 05 win was 2-1 (7.66%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.24%). The actual scoreline of 1-4 was predicted with a 1.9% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Stuttgart would win this match.
