Mainz vs Bayern München preview: Formidable visitors look to repeat Pokal antics

Bundesliga leaders Bayern München aim to strengthen their grip on the top spot as they travel to Mewa Arena on Saturday to face Mainz in their 14th league match of the 2024-25 season

Mainz

Prior to last week’s dramatic defeat at the hands of Wolfsburg, Mainz had won three consecutive matches. However on the road last time out,  Mainz were unable to hold on to their leads against die Wölfe, having been ahead 1-0, 2-1, and 3-2 at various points in the game.

Manager Bo Henriksen did express general satisfaction with the performance, however, stating that “It was a crazy game. We’re obviously disappointed because we produced a really good performance today against a really good team. We played good football in the half-spaces, but obviously, we also need to defend a bit better in the last ten minutes.”

The defensive vulnerability of Mainz in the games latter stages was somewhat surprising, given the fact that they had kept three clean sheets in the prior four encounters, conceding just once. 

In an attacking sense, die Nullfünfer have been solid, scoring 23 goals thus far in the Bundesliga, they have also found eleven of these in their last four matches in the top-flight.

Mainz have been inconsistent on home soil this season, winning two and drawing one of their last three games at Mewa Arena after losing all three matches prior to this.

Team News

Mainz will be without Danny da Costa until the new year due to a groin injury, whilst Gabriel Vidovic also remains out with an ankle injury and could be unavailable until February, 

Dominik Kohr is expected to form a back three alongside regulars Stefan Bell and Maxim Leitsch, in front of the ever-reliable Robin Zentner.

Bayern München

Vincent Kompany’s men head into the weekend on the back of a 5-1 win against Shakhtar Donetsk in Gelsenkirchen, with Bayern marking the ninth time this season that they have scored four or more goals in a match. 

However, Saturday’s visitors were unable to keep a clean sheet for the fourth consecutive match, with Kompany acknowledging this. 

“Sometimes you can be vulnerable [to counters] when you’re so dominant. We’ll continue to work in detail about these moments. But we could’ve won 5-0 and I’d still say that we have to improve.”

Bayern have already made one trip to Mewa Arena this campaign, overcoming the hosts by four goals to nil, matching their impressive trend carrying the best attacking and defensive records in the league. 

They have scored 41 goals, whilst conceding just ten, with a goal difference of +31 far surpassing Eintracht Frankfurt’s record of +15.

Bayern have won nine of their last eleven matches, with the sole defeat coming at the hands of reigning champions Bayer Leverkusen in the DFB-Pokal last week. Bayern are also formidable on the road, with four wins in their last five away matches, scoring 16 goals and conceding just twice during this run.

Team News

Bayern are likely to field a back four consisting of Konrad Laimer, Dayot Upamecano, Kim Min-Jae and Raphael Guerreiro after Alphonso Davies, Hiroki Ito and Josip Stanisic all remain out. 

Daniel Peretz is set to start in goal after Manuel Neuer’s rib injury, and Sven Ulreich’s potential absence due to personal reasons. 

Jamal Musiala, Michael Olise and Leroy Sane could feature behind Thomas Müller, as Harry Kane and Kingsley Coman continue to grapple with hamstring issues. 

Joshua Kimmich is almost certain to partner Aleksandar Pavlovic in the middle of the park after Joao Palhinha’s groin injury, likely keeping the summer arrival out of contention until mid-January.