Exciting Bundesliga Preview: Mainz 05 vs. Borussia Monchengladbach 2024

Borussia Monchengladbach and Mainz 05 will start their Friday night matchup tied for first place in the Bundesliga.

With their convincing wins last weekend, both clubs were able to get back into the top half of the standings.

Match preview

• In fact, Mainz defeated Bayer Leverkusen 3-2 on the road on Sunday to win for the third time in their last four league games and move ahead of their rivals into ninth place.
• After Anthony Caci and Nadiem Amiri traded punches just before the half-hour mark, Bo Svensson's team appeared to be level heading into the break. However, Die Nullfunfer took the lead thanks to a goal from Leandro Barreiro in the fourth minute of first-half injury time.
• A share of the spoils appeared likely after Patrik Schick's equaliser 13 minutes into the second half at the BayArena. However, the visitors took advantage of Amine Adli's late dismissal, as Marcus Ingvartsen converted his penalty to give his team all three points.
• After finishing in seventh place the previous season, Svensson will be looking to lead his team to another top half finish in the Bundesliga this time around, this time without the distraction of a cup run or European football to worry about.
• Meanwhile, Gladbach won 3-2 at Borussia-Park last weekend to maintain their incredible record against Bayern Munich in previous seasons.
• Dayot Upamecano's expulsion for a professional foul on Alassane Plea after only eight minutes gave Die Fohlen a big boost, and five minutes later, club captain Lars Stindl made the most of his side's numerical advantage by breaking the tie.
• But Daniel Farke's team was not to be denied a third victory against Bayern in their last four meetings; Jonas Hofmann and Marcus Thuram both scored after the break to make sure that Mathys Tel's goal was little more than a consolation. Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting had tied the score ten minutes before halftime.
• Few clubs have as strong of a record as Gladbach's against the club that has won each of the previous ten Bundesliga crowns. Die Fohlen has defeated Bayern in seven of their previous 13 encounters across all competitions, dropping only four of those games.
• With a win against Mainz on Friday, Farke's team might move up to seventh in the standings. Farke will be hoping that his team can draw a lot of confidence from their unexpected success the other week.

Team News

• The only injury concern for Mainz right now seems to be Jonathan Burkardt's severe knee injury, which has sidelined the gifted attacker since November and is unlikely to heal for at least another month.
• Though Marlon Mustapha and Robin Zentner were listed on their team's replacements' bench last weekend after recovering from recent injuries, Svensson is unlikely to rush either player back, especially given his team's impressive recent performance.
• After also recuperating from a recent injury, club captain Silvan Widmer made an appearance from the bench during Mainz's victory over Leverkusen last weekend. On Friday, he might take Danny da Costa's spot at right wing-back. 
• Meanwhile, Luca Netz and Julian Weigl will not be travelling with Gladbach because of injuries to their hips and ankles, respectively. Weigl was substituted himself last weekend against Bayern when it seemed he had sustained the problem. He was a former Borussia Dortmund midfielder.
• Even though the Bavarians were defeated the last time, Farke could decide to bring Thuram back into the starting lineup after making good use of the France forward off the bench. Hannes Wolf will probably miss this match as a result.
• Possible starting lineup for Mainz 05 is as follows: Dahmen; Widmer, Barreiro, Stach, Caci; Lee, Ajorque, Onisiwp; Hanche-Olsen, Bell, Fernandes
• Possible starting lineup for Borussia Monchengladbach: Thuram; Hofmann, Stindl, Plea; Hofmann, Lainer, Itakura, Elvedi, Bensebaini; Kramer, Kone