Mainz 05 vs Bayern Munich 01/02/20

1 February 2020

Mainz 05 will have to defy the odds to snap a three-game losing Bundesliga (BL) run when in-form Bayern Munich come to the Opel Arena this weekend.

Back-to-back defeats at the beginning of the new calendar year now mean that the hosts have suffered five losses in their last six BL outings (W1). Half of those results (win/loss) during that six-game sequence have come via a single-goal margin, with three seeing the winners keep a clean sheet too. Notably, none of Mainz’s nine BL home fixtures this season has ended in a draw (W3, L6), with six of those matches producing over 2.5 goals and seeing both teams score (66%). But, ‘Die Nullfünfer’ have yet to grab a point against the current top-six sides this campaign (L7), with five of those defeats seeing them go down via at least a two-goal margin.

Determined to overthrow top-placed Leipzig, the visitors have racked up a five-game winning league run ahead of this trip, with each of those successes coming via a multiple-goal margin. Notably, three of those five victories have been accompanied by a clean sheet, with 15 of 20 goals they’ve scored across those fixtures arriving in the second half (75%). The Bavarians must be lining up another win here, given that they came off better in all seven of their previous top-flight trips to Mainz, shutting the home side out on four of those occasions. A potential worry for Hansi Flick is that his players have struggled to keep a blank sheet in five of their last seven BL away games, conceding over 1,5 match goals four times along the way.