Mainz travel to Bundesliga rivals Fortuna Dusseldorf on Friday night to kick off the Bundesliga weekend. Mainz sit comfortably in 10th place with 15 points from a possible 36. Sandro Schwarz’s team lost their last match, 2-1 to Borussia Dortmund, in the Bundesliga following two straight wins.
Fortuna are coming off a 3-3 draw to Bayern Munich in which they came from behind to score a second half stoppage-time goal to seal the draw. Manager Friedhelm Funkel has seen a sudden improvement at Fortuna. The team has secured four points from six and just one point separates them from escaping the relegation zone. Fortuna could kick-start their season with a win at home.
Fortuna have won twice at home this term. Their most recent win came in their last home fixture as they won 4-1 over Hertha Berlin. Funkel’s team has allowed the third most goals at home (11), while scoring the fourth fewest (eight). On the other hand, Mainz’s away form hasn’t been very good. They have only secured four of 15 away points.
Their only road win came in their most recent away game against Freiburg, 3-1. Mainz have tallied the fewest away goals in the Bundesliga (four). Defensively, Mainz have conceded just eight times, but their biggest problem has been scoring on the road as three of their last four Bundesliga away games have seen them shut out.
The two German rivals haven’t played each other since the 2012-13 season. Mainz collected four points from six, winning at home and drawing on the road in Dusseldorf. Mainz outscored Fortuna 2-1 during the two games.
Despite Mainz’s lack of scoring away from home, there could be goals on Friday night. Fortuna have seen over 2.5 goals scored in their last five matches. Mainz have also seen more than 2.5 goals scored in their last five Bundesliga games. Fortuna average 1.1 goals scored per game. Mainz average 0.9 goals per game with 13.3 shots per game.
Twenty-one-year-old forward Dodi Lukebakio has scored five goals in 10 games. Benito Raman has tallied three strikes in nine matches. Creativity has been hard to come by for the most part this term, but midfielder Matthias Zimmermann has recorded three assists. Mainz’s Jean-Philippe Mateta leads the team with three goals scored. Midfielder Daniel Brosinski has registered four assists in 10 games and is Mainz’s most creative player.
The two clubs haven’t met in several seasons, but Mainz have history against Fortuna. Mainz will pick up the Friday night victory over their rivals and break out with goals. The last time Fortuna played on a Friday night, they conceded seven goals to Eintracht Frankfurt. Fridays haven’t been kind to the club and Mainz will win away.