Pre-Match Report
The facts on the away game in Mainz
The scenario: Thirteenth-placed Mainz 05 have picked up eight of their 10 points to date away from home, while fifth-placed Borussia Dortmund have taken 15 of their 16 points at home. BVB have lost only one of their last eight meetings with the 05ers; the most recent one on Matchday 33 of the 2023/24 season.
Home/away: FSV are unbeaten on the road, but they are still winless on home turf like four other Bundesliga clubs. Their last home victory to date was a 3-0 against Borussia Dortmund on 11 May. The Black & Yellows have lost five of their last six away matches stretching back into last season, last won on their travels by a 2-1 scoreline in Mönchengladbach on 13 April and occupy 16th position in the away table with one point (picked up in the 0-0 in Bremen on Matchday 2).
Head-to-head record: Mainz 05 have only won six of their 36 Bundesliga meetings to date (17%). The 05ers have even won a higher proportion of their games against Bayern. Borussia have never lost two consecutive games against this opponent and have conceded fewer than one goal per game on average (35 in 36 games).
Statistics: Mainz have won only one of their last five league games (3-0 away to FC St. Pauli at the start of October), but already have 10 points on the board in total. That's seven more than a year ago. Dortmund have 16 points – precisely as many as the reigning champions from Leverkusen.
Style of play: Mainz are a robust outfit. Bo Henriksen's team play a physical game and have contested the most aerial battles (452). However, their challenge win rate of 48.7% (BVB: 50%) is only the 11th-best in the whole league. Mainz have already conceded four goals from crosses.
Last season: A matter of days after Borussia had reached the Champions League final, Mainz put themselves on track for victory early on: Barreiro (12) and Lee (19, 23) secured a 3-0 lead within the space of 11 minutes. BVB were more in the game in the second half and scored a goal through Moukoko, but it was disallowed due to a narrow offside position. It was the first time BVB have conceded more than two goals to the 05ers and it was their biggest defeat against them too (3-0).
Biggest away victory: The biggest of BVB's 11 victories to date in Mainz was by a 4-0 scoreline on 14 December 2019. Borussia should have boasted a bigger half-time lead than their 1-0 advantage thanks to a goal from Marco Reus, but made amends for that in the second period: Jadon Sancho (66) and Thorgan Hazard (69) rounded off two counter-attacks to score goals two and three. Nico Schulz then added a goal to secure the 4-0 victory – the margin of which was also deserved – in the 84th minute.
Compiled by Boris Rupert