Mainz 05 will be looking to make it four straight wins in all competitions when they welcome Borussia Monchengladbach to Mewa Arena in the Bundesliga on Friday night.
The home side are currently fifth in Germany's top flight, having picked up 16 points from their opening 10 matches, while Monchengladbach are 10th with 14 points to show from their first 10 games.
Match preview
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Mainz have not claimed a top-half finish in the Bundesliga since posting sixth in 2015-16, but it has been an encouraging start to the 2021-22 campaign for the club, with a total of 16 points from 10 matches leaving them in fifth position in the table, just one point off fourth-placed Bayer Leverkusen.
Die Nullfunfer, who finished 12th in the Bundesliga last term, will bring a three-game winning run in all competitions into Friday's fixture, having been victorious in their last two in the league, in addition to overcoming Arminia Bielefeld in the German Cup at the end of October.
Since losing 3-1 at Borussia Dortmund in the league on October 16, Mainz have beaten Augsburg 4-1 and Arminia Bielefeld 2-1, and they will be eyeing a fourth straight victory in this match.
Bo Svensson's side have already lost four times in the Bundesliga this season, which is a high number considering their position in the table, but only Freiburg (six), Dortmund (eight) and Bayern Munich (eight) have posted more victories in Germany's top flight this term.
Mainz have only won one of their last 10 Bundesliga matches against Monchengladbach, but the success came in the last meeting between the two sides - a 2-1 victory in February 2021.
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Monchengladbach, meanwhile, will enter the contest off the back of a 2-1 victory over Bochum in the league last weekend, with Alassane Plea and Jonas Hofmann on the scoresheet.
Die Fohlen finished fourth in the Bundesliga in 2019-20 but dropped down to eighth last term, meaning that there is no European football for the club this season, which could end up helping them in the league.
That said, Adi Hutter's side have found it difficult to show consistency this season, winning four, drawing two and losing four of their 10 matches to collect 14 points, which has left them in 10th spot.
There are just two points separating Monchengladbach from Mainz, though, and the fact that the visitors are only three points off the top four is an indication of how compact the table is at this moment in time.
Die Borussen will actually bring a two-game winning run into this contest, as they incredibly thumped Bayern 5-0 in the German Cup on October 27, with the result sending shockwaves around Europe.
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Team News
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Mainz will again be without the services of Jerry St Juste due to a shoulder injury, but the home side are otherwise in excellent shape heading into Friday's contest.
Head coach Svensson will have been pleased with what he saw against Arminia Bielefeld last time out, and it would not be a surprise to see the same XI sent onto the field for this match.
A 3-1-4-2 formation is likely to include Karim Onisiwo and Jonathan Burkardt as the front two once again, while Silvan Widmer and Aaron Martin should continue in the wing-back areas for the home side.
As for Monchengladbach, Tony Jantschke, Jordan Beyer, Christoph Kramer, Stefan Lainer and Mamadou Doucoure remain on the sidelines through injury.
The visitors did not pick up any fresh problems against Bochum, though, and there are not expected to be any real surprises in their XI on Friday night.
Indeed, Plea and Hofmann, who were both on the scoresheet last weekend, should operate in the wide areas, with Lars Stindl playing behind Breel Embolo, who has just one league goal to his name this term.
Mainz 05 possible starting lineup:
Zentner; Nemeth, Bell, Hack; Kohr; Widmer, Lee, Boetius, Martin; Onisiwo, Burkardt
Borussia Monchengladbach possible starting lineup:
Sommer; Scally, Ginter, Elvedi, Bensebaini; Zakaria, Kone; Hofmann, Stindl, Plea; Embolo
We say: Mainz 05 1-1 Borussia Monchengladbach
This is a very difficult match to call, with both sides entering the contest in good form. Monchengladbach will be confident of causing plenty of problems in the final third, but Mainz's form cannot be ignored, and we have had to settle on a low-scoring draw after taking everything into consideration.
Top tip
Data 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 Borussia Monchengladbach win with a probability of 38.42%. A win for Mainz 05 had a probability of 35.94% and a draw had a probability of 25.6%.
The most likely scoreline for a Borussia Monchengladbach win was 0-1 with a probability of 9.07%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.46%) and 0-2 (6.32%). The likeliest Mainz 05 win was 1-0 (8.71%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.14%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 12.1% likelihood.
