RB Leipzig are undefeated in their last seven matches and will be confident of going eight without defeat against Bundesliga rivals Mainz on Friday night.
Ralf Rangnick’s Die Bullen sit in third place with three games to go. RB Leipzig can theoretically catch league leaders Bayern Munich, but realistically that is unlikely to happen. A win would allow the club to solidify its place in third.
Mainz are comfortable in midtable and sit 12 points above the bottom three. Sandro Schwarz’s team has been hot and cold most of the season. They go into Friday night’s clash having lost four of their last six matches.
Home has been where the heart is for Mainz as they have obtained 25 of 36 points on their own ground. Mainz have won their last two home matches defeating Freiburg 5-0 and Fortuna Dusseldorf 3-1.
Mainz and RB Leipzig have met just five times in the Bundesliga previously. Die Bullen have won three, lost one, and drawn one against Mainz. Earlier this season, RB Leipzig hammered their rival 4-1 at the Red Bull Arena.
RB Leipzig strikers Yussuf Poulsen and Timo Werner scored two goals apiece as they ran riot. Poulsen and Werner have tallied 15 goals apiece this season, and their form is one reason RB Leipzig have already secured Champions League football for next term.
Rangnick has favoured a three-man defence and his decision to move to that formation is due to the arrival of new manager Julian Nagelsmann for 2019-20. The three-man back line has worked well for Rangnick as he goes out with a bang.
RB Leipzig can move within two points of second-place Borussia Dortmund with a win. Lucien Favre’s Dortmund play Werder Bremen on Sunday and could continue to fall down the table with a poor result.
Mainz may not be soaring like RB Leipzig, but they do have their own goalscoring machine. Jean-Philippe Mateta has scored five times in his last four Bundesliga appearances to push his season total to 12 goals.
Despite Mateta’s scoring prowess, Mainz have tallied the fifth lowest number of goals scored this season (37). Meanwhile, they have allowed the eighth most goals (52).
Mainz and RB Leipzig put goals in the back of the net when they play each other. All five previous Bundesliga meetings have seen over 2.5 goals scored. Four of those games featured more than 3.5 goals scored.
RB Leipzig are the Bundesliga’s most in-form team. A win will take them closer to the top of the table, at least for a few hours. Like the previous matches between Mainz and RB Leipzig, this fixture will see over 2.5 goals as Die Bullen pick up another big three points.