1. FSV Mainz 05 vs SV Werder Bremen Prediction, Betting Tips & Preview

Preview

Haydn Cunningham Oct 14, 2015 @ 03:19 pm

Mainz were the centre of attention on Friday night as they entertained Borussia Dortmund at the Coface Arena but were confidently cast aside by Dortmund who could’ve scored more on the night had they been more clinical. Dortmund ran away 2-0 victors and was the 3^rd defeat in 4 league games for Mainz. Those 3 defeats to Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund aren’t going to be the results that decide their season but they also scored 0 goals in those losses and this inability to score against the big sides is always going to see Mainz feature in the bottom half of the table.

Werder Bremen have suffered 5 straight league defeats and have failed to score in their last 3 league matches which is relegation form in any sides eyes. Bremen understandably went extremely defensive against Bayern Munich at the weekend and were on the end of a 1-0 defeat. Munich had almost 3 times as many touches of the ball (1017-360) than Bremen who were chasing shadows throughout the game. Head coach Viktor Skripnik wouldn’t have particularly gained anything from the Munich game and is likely to be more adventurous against Mainz in an effort to stop the losing streak. Skripnik did a magnificent job last year when he took over in October with Bremen bottom of the table and he almost got them in a Europa League place but this season’s struggles will need to be repeated by Skripnik.

The Coface Arena hasn’t served Mainz particularly well when Bremen travel to town as they’ve beaten their opponents just twice in 9 attempts at home. The 4x Bundesliga champions will be latching onto any positive they can before the trip to Mainz and reduce the 5 point gap between the 2 sides. Yunus Malli has scored almost as many Bundesliga goals (6) this term than Werder Bremen (7) and the German playmaker has been the standout player for Mainz and will be one to watch on Saturday.

Gonzalo Jara was dropped for the defeat to Dortmund and the full back will be determined to get his place back. Fabian Frei and Elkin Soto continue to be side lined for the home side. A defensive error by Gebre Selassie gave Munich their decisive goal but Skripnik won’t be rash in his selection. Felix Kroos has returned to full fitness and Levin Oztunali was fit enough to complete the last 30 minutes against Munich. Jannik Vestergaard missed the defeat to Munich and his return to action is unknown. Aron Johnannson is still missing for Bremen crucially as is Lukas Frode.

Mainz

Stats: W-4 L-5 D-0

Recent Form - LLDWW

Werder Bremen

Stats: W-2 L-6 D-1

Recent Form - DLDLL

Head-to-head record:

Possible Line-ups

Mainz (4-2-3-1) – Karius, Brosinski, Bungert, Bell, Bengtsson, Latza, Baumgartlinger, Samperio, Malli, Blasis, Muto.

Werder Bremen (4-5-1) – Wiedwald, Selassie, Galvez, Bargfrede, S.Garcia, Bartels, Fritz, Junuzovic, Oztunali, Ujah.

Injury List/Suspended Players

Mainz – Frei (inj), Soto (inj), Vestergaard (inj)
Werder Bremen – Frode (inj), Johansson (inj), Pavlovic (inj), Yildirim (inj).

League Positions