Relegation-threatened Mainz 05 will endeavour to boost their hopes of survival in the Bundesliga when they play host to Werder Bremen at Mewa Arena on Saturday afternoon.
The two teams meet for the first time since September last year when Bremen secured a comfortable 4-0 home victory – their biggest win and Mainz's heaviest defeat of the campaign to date.
Match preview
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Mainz's 15-year stay in the Bundesliga is at risk of coming to an end this season, as they find themselves embroiled in a relegation scrap following an eight-game winless league run.
The 05ers suffered their latest setback last weekend when they lost 1-0 away against Eintracht Frankfurt – the club's ninth league defeat of the campaign – courtesy of a 72nd-minute strike from Mario Gotze.
Jan Siewert has won just one of his nine games in charge of Mainz since joining the club in November last year, and his side currently sit 17th in the Bundesliga table, six points adrift of safety following Union Berlin's win over basement club Darmstadt.
Mainz are gearing up for a run of three home games in their next four Bundesliga fixtures, but a return to Mewa Arena may not be so welcomed by the 05ers, as they boast the worst home record in the German top flight this season having accumulated only five points from eight games in front of their own supporters, scoring a league-low six goals in the process.
Back-to-back games against bottom-half duo Werder Bremen and Union Berlin will be viewed by Siewert as a great opportunity to collect valuable points in their quest to survive, and Mainz should be optimistic of success on Saturday as they have picked up five points across their last four Bundesliga meetings with Bremen.
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Werder Bremen enter Saturday's contest in high spirits as they have put together a six-game unbeaten run in the Bundesliga – their longest such run for over three years – winning their last two games in the process against Bayern Munich and Freiburg.
Following a surprise 1-0 triumph at the Allianz Arena, the River Islanders registered their fifth home league win of the season when they beat Freiburg 3-1 last weekend, thanks to goals from Marvin Ducksch, Justin Njinmah and Julian Malatini.
Ole Werner's side were sitting just two points above the relegation zone in early December, but their strong run of form in recent weeks has helped them climb to ninth in the Bundesliga table and 11 points clear of the bottom three.
Bremen are bidding to win three successive Bundesliga matches for the first time since March 2019 under former boss Florian Kohfeldt, with their third victory during this run coming against none other than Mainz (3-0) on home soil.
However, the River Islanders travel to Mewa Arena on Saturday having struggled to grind out positive results on the road this season, as they have collected just five of their 23 points away from home, so success is not a given this weekend.
Team News
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Mainz duo Nelson Weiper (knee) and Stefan Bell (ill) are both in the treatment room, while Lee Jae-sung is still away with South Korea at the Asian Cup.
Edimilson Fernandes and Brajan Gruda both missed the defeat at Frankfurt due to respective ankle and hip injuries and both players are considered as doubts for the visit of Werder Bremen.
Danny da Costa could be recalled at right wing-back at the expense of Silvan Widmer, and Ludovic Ajorque will be hoping to force his way into the first XI ahead of either Jonathan Burkardt or Karim Onisiwo, while new recruits Nadiem Amiri and Jessic Ngankam - on loan from Bayer Leverkusen and Frankfurt respectively - are in contention to make their debuts.
As for Bremen, Milos Veljkovic (knee), Amos Pieper and Leon Opitz (both ankle) all remain out with injuries, while Naby Keita is still away with Guinea at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Mitchell Weiser pulled out of the matchday squad last weekend at short notice after sustaining a minor injury, but the right wing-back should be fit to return to the first-team fold against Mainz.
Marvin Ducksch has scored a team-high eight goals this season, including three in his last four appearances, and he is set to be joined in attack by Justin Njinmah, who is yet to score an away goal this term, while 6ft 7in midfielder Skelly Alvero is in contention to make his debut after joining on loan from Lyon on Wednesday.
Mainz 05 possible starting lineup:
Zentner; Van den Berg, Kohr, Caci; Widmer, Barreiro, Krauss, Mwene; Richter, Burkardt; Onisiwo
Werder Bremen possible starting lineup:
Zetterer; Stark, Friedl, Jung, Lynen, Weiser, Schmid, Stage, Agu; Njinmah, Ducksch
We say: Mainz 05 1-2 Werder Bremen
Werder Bremen cruised to victory in their last meeting with Mainz, but a tighter affair could be on the cards on Saturday, with the onus being on the hosts to take to game to the visitors as they bid to end their miserable winless run.
The two sides have struggled to keep clean sheets this term so there could be plenty of goalmouth action at both ends, but Bremen seem to have the greater threat in the final third and should ultimately find a way to outscore their opponents en route to claiming another three points.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Oliver Thomas
