High-flying Bayer Leverkusen will be looking to extend their unbeaten start to the Bundesliga season when they face winless Mainz 05 at Mewa Arena on Saturday afternoon.
Sitting level on points with leaders Bayern Munich, Xabi Alonso's side crushed Heidenheim 4-1 last time out, while the 05ers suffered a 2-1 defeat against Augsburg to remain at the foot of the table.
Match preview
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It would not be unfair to say that Mainz have endured a woeful start to the season, as they find themselves rock bottom of the Bundesliga table having taken a solitary point from their opening five matches.
Following a 4-1 thrashing at the hands of Union Berlin on the opening weekend, Bo Svensson's side held Eintracht Frankfurt to a 1-1 draw in their next outing, but they have since suffered three successive defeats, falling to Werder Bremen, Stuttgart and Augsburg.
After losing 4-0 to Werder and 3-1 to Stuttgart, the 05ers missed an excellent opportunity to enhance their points tally last weekend, as they took the lead against Augsburg before conceding twice, and they also played the final 30 minutes against 10 men following Arne Engels's red card.
No team has scored fewer Bundesliga goals than Mainz's four this season, while only two sides - VfL Bochum and Darmstadt - have conceded more goals than Mainz's 14, meaning that Svensson must make improvements at both ends of the pitch if he is to save his side from a relegation battle.
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By contrast, unbeaten Bayer Leverkusen could not have wished for a better start to the season, as they sit joint-top of the table after five matches, having taken 13 points from a possible 15 to remain neck and beck with perennial champions Bayern Munich.
Die Werkself set the tone for their season with an 8-0 thrashing of lower-league outfit Teutonia Ottensen in the DFB-Pokal, and they kicked off their Bundesliga campaign with successive victories over RB Leipzig, Borussia Monchengladbach and Darmstadt, scoring 11 goals in the process.
After holding Bayern to a 2-2 draw at the Allianz Arena - thanks to Exequiel Palacios's 94th-minute equaliser - Leverkusen started their Europa League campaign with a 4-0 victory over Hacken before crushing Heideinheim 4-0 last time out.
Bayer have now scored 29 goals in seven outings across all competitions this term, meaning that Alonso's men average just over four goals per game in 2023-24, with new striker Victor Boniface netting eight goals in his first seven appearances for the club.
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Team News
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Mainz have several key players sidelined through injury at the moment, with Jonathan Burkardt (knee), Andreas Hanche-Olsen (ankle), Maxim Leitsch (knee), Nelson Weiper (hip) and Silvan Widmer (ankle) all expected to miss Saturday's clash.
Svensson will likely stick with his favoured 3-4-2-1 formation this weekend, meaning that Karim Onisiwo and Lee Jae-sung will start behind Ludovic Ajorque in attack, while Stefan Bell, Dominik Kohr and Edimilson Fernandes should occupy the backline.
Bayer Leverkusen, on the other hand, will be without the injured trio of Arthur (tendon), Timothy Fosu-Mensah (knee) and Patrik Schick (fitness) on Saturday, while 18-year-old defender Noah Mbamba is a doubt.
After bagging a brace last time out, top scorer Boniface will continue to lead the line for the visitors, who look set to deploy Jonas Hofmann and Florian Wirtz behind the lone striker.
At the opposite end of the pitch, goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky will retain his place between the sticks, protecting a back three of Odilon Kossounou, Jonathan Tah and Edmond Tapsoba.
Mainz 05 possible starting lineup:
Zentner; Bell, Khor, Fernandes; Da Costa, Barreiro, Krauss, Caci; Lee, Onisiwo; Ajorque
Bayer Leverkusen possible starting lineup:
Hradecky; Kossounou, Tah, Tapsoba; Frimpong, Palacios, Xhaka, Grimaldo; Hofmann, Wirtz; Boniface
We say: Mainz 05 1-4 Bayer Leverkusen
While winless Mainz have conceded 14 goals in five Bundesliga matches this season, unbeaten Leverkusen have scored 17 goals in five league outings, so we expect Alonso's men to heap more misery on the 05ers by notching another high-scoring victory.
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