Mainz vs Cologne

The weekend’s Bundesliga action gets underway at Mewa Arena as Mainz 05 and Cologne go head-to-head in a mid-table showdown.

Out-of-sorts Mainz pulled off a massive 2-0 victory away to newly-promoted Werder Bremen last time out to arrest an underwhelming run of four winless Bundesliga matches (D2, L2) before easing past lower-league Lubeck 3-0 in midweek DFB-Pokal action. Despite winning less than 50% of their opening ten Bundesliga games (W4, D3, L3), ‘Die Nullfünfer’ head into proceedings only one point adrift of sixth-placed Gladbach and will leapfrog Cologne to seventh should they win here. However, Mainz went winless in both Bundesliga meetings against this opposition last season (D1, L1) despite getting on the scoresheet on each occasion. Connoisseurs of action-packed football may want to look elsewhere for goals, considering Mewa Arena has witnessed just seven strikes in four Bundesliga fixtures it has hosted this season.

On the other hand, visiting Cologne staged an eye-catching second-half comeback to beat Augsburg 3-2 at home last weekend and bring a three-game losing competitive streak to a halt. With one point separating them from fourth-placed TSG Hoffenheim, the ‘Billy Goats’ remain firmly in the Champions League promotion race despite languishing in seventh ahead of the kick-off. But in order to improve their chances of snatching their first Bundesliga top-four finish since 1991/92, Cologne must upgrade their away form. Steffen Baumgart’s men have picked up just one victory across their first five Bundesliga road trips (D3, L1) and have yet to keep a clean sheet away from home this season. Mewa Arena is not the best venue to embark on that mission, given that Cologne have lost seven of their 11 previous Bundesliga away encounters against Mainz (W2, D2).