Bundesliga returns with European hopefuls Mainz taking on struggling Schalke 04 at Mewa Arena this Friday.
The host’s impressive run of ten Bundesliga games without defeat (W6, D4) was ended last time after a 3-0 loss to Wolfsburg away from home.
That result was the first time Mainz failed to score in a league game since they suffered a 1-0 defeat in the reverse fixture against Schalke in November.
But with a three-point gap from sixth place coming into the round, the visitors will see this as a must-win game if they want to keep their European hopes alive.
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Returning to Mewa Arena will undoubtedly give them a big boost as they are unbeaten in six Bundesliga games in front of their own fans (W4, D2), most impressively beating Bayern Munich 3-1 during that run.
Schalke kept their potential relegation away for another game after they secured what could prove to be a crucial 2-1 comeback win against Werder Bremen last time. That result means they have won their last two home games for the first time this season.
The target will be to follow that up with successive league wins across all venues, which they’ve achieved only once this season.
But they have a terrible away record, having won just once away from home this season (D5, L8). Meanwhile, four of the six away games in which they collected points were against opponents in the bottom half of the table at that time (W1, D3). So that’s not a good sign for this Schalke side who, despite improving recent results, come into the round in 17th, albeit now just one point from safety.
Meanwhile, both teams have scored in just two of the last eight head-to-head meetings, while the last two meetings combined produced just one match goal. So we can expect a low-scoring affair here, with under 2.5 goals very likely.
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