Hoffenheim vs. Mainz - Stats and Preview

Mainz did what Schalke 04 were hoping for

Mainz were level with Schalke 04 on 7 points at the end of the Hinrunde, 8 points from the play-off place and 10 adrift of safety.
Now, Mainz are still 17th, but they’re level on points with 16th-placed Hertha and just one point from safety.
The last time Mainz were 16th was MD-9, and the last time they were out of the relegation zone was MD-8 (15th) – a win could see them move out of the relegation places for the first time since November 2020.

Twice as many points in half the time

FSV Mainz 05 have earned 14 points in the second half of the season – twice as many as in the first half of the season.
Four of their 5 wins in 2020/21 have come since MD-17.

Mainz look good for survival

With 14 points, Mainz sit sixth in the standings for the second half of the season, ahead of the likes of Dortmund (13), Hoffenheim (11) and Leverkusen (8).
More importantly, they’ve made up ground in the fight for survival: Köln have earned just 7 points in this time, Arminia Bielefeld just 5 and Hertha just 4.
If they all keep up their form, Mainz will comfortably survive in the Bundesliga with 37 points, while Hertha would go down along with Schalke 04 on 26 points, and Arminia Bielefeld would go into the relegation play-off on 28 points.

A good switch of coach

Mainz have new head coach Bo Svensson to thank for their transformation.
Bo Svensson was brought in for a €1.5m fee from Austrian side FC Liefering – the same fee that Liefering paid for Svensson to move from Mainz in September 2019.
Bo Svensson has Mainz DNA and harks back to the days where the Zerofivers played some of the most sophisticated tactical football in Germany.
Bo Svensson, who once played under Juergen Klopp and then Thomas Tuchel for Mainz, was unbeaten against Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga as a player (W4, D1, L0).

Good signs off the bench

Bo Svensson has another stat in his favour: 4 of Mainz’s last 5 goals have been scored by substitutes, earning his side 5 points.
Substitutes Robert Glatzel and Kevin Stöger turned a 2-0 deficit into a 2-2 against BayerLeverkusen on MD-21, while Kevin Stöger scored the winner in the 2-1 win over 'Gladbach on MD-22, and Robin Quaison scored the only goal of the game in the win over Freiburg on MD-25.

Quaison close to a record

Robin Quaison scored off the bench against Freiburg, ending his run of 11 Bundesliga games without a goal since he last found the net against Hoffenheim in November (1-1).
It was his 28th Bundesliga goal, which puts him just one behind Mainz’s all-time top scorers Yunus Malli and Mohamed Zidan (both 29).

Intensity, intensity, intensity

“Intensity” is a word used by almost all head coaches nowadays, and Bo Svensson takes it to ano- ther level: in the win over Freiburg, Mainz covered 123.2 km and put in a season-high 270 sprints.
Mainz have also completed over 800 intensive runs in 5 games this season (they completed 837 vs. Freiburg) – all 5 games have been under Svensson.
What’s more, 5 of Mainz’s 6 most successful games in terms of challenges have come under the new head coach.

Clean sheets all round

Mainz have kept a clean sheet in their last 2 Bundesliga games.
The last time they kept 3 straight clean sheets in the top flight was back in February/March 2014 under head coach Thomas Tuchel.
The club record is 4 Bundesliga shutouts in a row (in April 2012, also under Thomas Tuchel).

The Bell factor

Mainz have conceded just 4 goals in their last 6 games, and just 1 in their last 3 – and that came from a mistake from Robin Zentner against Augsburg.
Head coach Bo Svensson’s switch to a back three in January is paying dividends.
Svensson’s switch has found a way to get ‘libero’ Stefan Bell back in the team, which has had another positive effect: in Mainz’s last 10 games with Bell on the pitch, they’re the only Bundesliga side who hasn’t conceded a single goal from set pieces in this timeframe.
Across the first 15 matchdays (without Bell), they conceded 11 goals from set pieces, the second-worst record in the league.

Mainz like it in mid-table

Four of Mainz’s 5 Bundesliga wins this season have come against teams placed seventh to tenth in the table: Union, Mönchengladbach and Freiburg (2 wins).
Next up, they face Hoffenheim, who sit 11th.

Can Hoffenheim keep motivated?

Despite dominating the game (16 shots to 7 and 55% possession), Hoffenheim went down 2-0 to Stuttgart last Sunday, ending a run of 4 straight Bundesliga games unbeaten (W2, D2, L0).
Hoffenheim sit firmly in mid-table with 30 points, as far from the European places as they are from the relegation spots.
They went out of the DFB-Pokal against Greuter Fürth and out of the Europa League against Molde (3-3, 0-2).
Head coach Sebastian Hoeneß’s biggest challenge in the coming weeks will be to maintain his side’s motivation.

Mainz’s historic 5-1 win in 2019/20

Mainz’s last trip to Hoffenheim was historic: Mainz won 5-1, their second-highest scoring away game in their Bundesliga history (also 6-2 vs. Bochum in April 2005).
It was also historic because Mainz scored 4 of their goals with ten men – no other away side in Bundesliga history has managed this feat.

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