Preview: Mainz 05 vs Borussia Monchengladbach - prediction, team news, lineups

Bundesliga action returns this Friday night as Mainz 05 welcome Borussia Monchengladbach to the Mewa Arena for a tasty encounter.

With just three more matchdays remaining before the winter break, both clubs will be looking to pick up vital points in their pursuit of Bundesliga survival.

Match preview

Having won just one of their 12 Bundesliga games this season, Mainz are not only on a desperate search for points, but they are also looking for a new manager after parting ways with Bo Henriksen.

The club made the decision official on Wednesday - just three days on from a disastrous performance away at Freiburg which ended in a 4-0 defeat.

On one hand, the Danish coach deserves a lot of credit for leading the club to the main draw of a European tournament for just the third time in their history.

Mainz have performed tremendously well on the continent this season, though their inability to pick up results domestically has ultimately cost Henriksen his job.

Under-23s manager Benjamin Hoffmann has taken charge of the senior team on an interim basis, and he will certainly take inspiration from Borussia Monchengladbach’s current head coach, who also started out on a caretaker agreement.

Just like Eugen Polanski, Hoffmann takes over a team that is rooted to the bottom of the Bundesliga table, with six measly points to their name.

Speaking of Polanski, the Gladbach boss endured a rare loss over the weekend as his team went crashing out of the DFB-Pokal following a 2-1 home defeat to a struggling St Pauli side.

While the result was undoubtedly disappointing, it was not the end of the world considering Die Fohlen are fully focused on avoiding relegation.

A run of three straight Bundesliga victories has certainly helped their cause, with the team sitting five points clear of the bottom three and just three points adrift of the top eight.

One of the big improvements has been in Gladbach’s attack, with the team bagging three or more goals in four of their last six competitive matches.

Die Fohlen are winless against Mainz in their last nine meetings, though considering the recent crisis at the Mewa Arena, the visitors will be feeling confident about their chances.

Mainz 05 Bundesliga form:

L L D L D L

Mainz 04 form (all competitions):

D W L D L L

Borussia Monchengladbach Bundesliga form:

L L W W W D

Borussia Monchengladbach form (all competitions):

W W W W D L

Team News

If poor form and a managerial sacking was not enough, Mainz also have a couple of suspensions to deal with ahead of Friday’s fixture.

Paul Nebel picked up a straight red card against Freiburg last weekend, while Dominik Kohr did the same against Hoffenheim a week earlier.

On the injury front, Anthony Caci remains out of action due to a thigh injury, Maxim Dal is nursing a knee problem, while Robin Zentner missed last weekend’s clash with Freiburg due to a groin issue.

Borussia Monchengladbach also have several injury worries ahead of their trip to the Mewa Arena.

Young defender Fabio Cristian Chiarodia has struggled with a thigh injury for some time, and has only made five Bundesliga appearances this season.

Nathan Ngoumou, on the other hand, has been out of action since April with an Achilles tendon injury, and he remains on the sidelines for Friday’s game.

Forward Jan Urbich has been dealing with an illness recently, while Philipp Sander has missed the last few games with a muscle injury.

Mainz 05 possible starting lineup:

Riess; Da Costa, Bell, Hanche-Olsen; Widmer, Sano, Amiri, Mwene; Nordin, Lee; Hollerbach

Borussia Monchengladbach possible starting lineup:

Nicolas; Scally, Elvedi, Diks, Netz; Castrop, Reitz, Engelhardt, Neuhaus; Honorat, Tabakovic

We say: Mainz 05 1-2 Borussia Monchengladbach

Mainz find themselves in a tough predicament ahead of Friday’s fixture, and they could certainly do with hitting the restart button.

However, with Borussia Monchengladbach in great league form, we are expecting the visitors to show no mercy as they look to continue climbing the standings.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.