Mainz 05 vs Schalke 04

Schalke 04’s bid to secure Bundesliga survival faces another potentially devastating roadblock as they head to the Mewa Arena to meet Mainz 05.

An underwhelming 3-0 defeat at Wolfsburg last time out knocked Mainz down from a stellar ten-match unbeaten run in the Bundesliga (W6, D4) and marked their first scoring blank in the top flight since a 1-0 loss in the reverse fixture against Schalke in November. Amends for that upset are on the cards as ‘Die Nullfünfer’ come into proceedings having won four of their last six league matches on home turf (D2), including a come-from-behind 3-1 triumph over perennial champions Bayern Munich in their most recent encounter at the Mewa Arena. However, Bo Svensson’s men have not fared well against Schalke in front of the home faithful, claiming just one victory in their previous five top-flight H2Hs at home (D2, L2) and failing to score twice in this run.

In the meantime, Schalke’s season-long dogfight against the drop received a significant morale boost last weekend as they came from a 1-0 halftime deficit to beat Werder Bremen 2-1 at home and more within one point of safety. But Schalke’s patchy for that’s seen them alternate between winning (2) and losing (2) across their last four league games could still throw a spanner in the works. Addressing his team’s form woes on hostile turf is at the forefront of manager Thomas Reis’ assignments after the ‘Miners’ registered just one win on their 14 Bundesliga travels this season (D5, L8). Goals have been in short supply for the visitors as they enter this round as the only Bundesliga side yet to hit double digits away from home this season (7), drawing a blank on their two most recent trips.