Schott Mainz vs Borussia Dortmund

Mainz’s Mewa Arena hosts a lopsided DFB-Pokal round-one tie between lower-league Schott Mainz and Bundesliga heavy hitters Borussia Dortmund.

Schott Mainz’s new season was off to an unimpressive start as they slipped to a 4-3 defeat to FSV Frankfurt in their curtain-raising league fixture last weekend. Sascha Meeth’s side conquered the Oberliga Rheinland-Pfalz/Saar in 2022/23 in remarkable fashion, losing only twice in 30 league games (W21, D7) to earn promotion to a higher tier. Bringing the tail-end of the previous league campaign into the equation, Schott Mainz’s last four competitive matches have featured over 3.5 goals and both teams on the scoresheet, highlighting the potential for a high-scoring contest. It’s also worth noting they netted 3+ goals on all four occasions, suggesting they could punch above their weight against a more heavily fancied Borussia Dortmund.

However, last season’s Bundesliga runners-up, Borussia Dortmund, should steamroll into the next DFB-Pokal round, inspired by an outrageous pre-season form. Despite losing Raphael Guerreiro and Jude Bellingham to Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, respectively, Edin Terzic’s ran riot in their pre-season friendlies, racking up six wins in seven warm-up fixtures (D1), not to mention scoring at least twice in each triumph. Since a 2-0 loss to RB Leipzig in last season’s DFB-Pokal quarter-finals, ‘Die Borussen’ have strung together a mind-blowing 15-game unbeaten streak, friendlies included (W11, D4). Virtually unstoppable in the front third, Dortmund intimidatingly bagged 3+ goals in ten of those 15 matches, suggesting Schott Mainz’s defense could be in for a long day.