German Bundesliga - Mainz vs. Augsburg - Preview & Prediction

Two teams, battling to avoid relegation this season, will meet up on the Rhine River, as local Mainz, sitting 15th in the league, will play host to 13th-placed Augsburg. Kick-off - at 9:30 AM ET on Sunday, June 14.

Mainz Bank A Rare Win

A much-needed victory was finally on the cards for Mainz, who boosted their hopes of survival in the Bundesliga with a 2-0 win against Eintracht Frankfurt away at Commerzbank Arena on Saturday. The hosts led in ball possession (66%), but it was up to the Zero-Fivers to deliver the majority of attempts (17-11), with Moussa Niakhate and Pierre Kunde scoring in each half respectively. The triumph has finally ended Mainz’s five-game winless run (D3 L2), putting the team in the 15th place in the league with a W9 D4 L17 record, three points above the relegation play-off spot.

Swedish-Ghanaian forward Robin Quaison leads Mainz with 12 markers, but has gone six games without a goal to his name. Goalie Florian Muller, meanwhile, sits 23rd in the league with 31 saves. He has recorded one clean sheet in nine appearances this season and allows a goal every 35 minutes on average. The Zero-Fivers have scored the 12th highest number of goals so far this year (39), while taking the 8th highest amount of shots per game (13.3). They are 3rd from the bottom in both ball possession (44.9%) and passing accuracy (75.1%).

Augsburg Tie Versus Cologne

Augsburg remained winless for three straight games (D2 L1) after earning a 1-1 draw against Cologne at home at WWK Arena on Sunday. Just like back in November, when both teams also played out a 1-1 tie during the reverse fixture, Die Fuggerstadter once again failed to convert from the spot, with Florian Niederlechner missing the second of his last three Bundesliga penalties. Philipp Max eventually scored for Augsburg with two minutes remaining, canceling out the Billy Goats’ opener, that was netted moments earlier. Die Fuggerstadter is 13th in the league (W8 D8 L14), sitting just four points above the bottom three.

With 11 goals collected throughout the current Bundesliga campaign, German forward Florian Niederlechner tops Augsburg’s scoring table but has not found the back of the net for 857 minutes. Goalie Andreas Luthe, meanwhile, has made 18 saves so far this year, ranking 26th in the league. He has two clean sheets in seven Bundesliga appearances and gives up a goal every 79 minutes of play. Augsburg is 11th in most goals netted so far this season (41), 2nd in the least shots delivered per game (10.9) and bottom of the league in both ball possession (41.1%) and passing accuracy (69.7%).

Prediction

Neither team has impressed lately, with both currently battling to stay in the Bundesliga for another year. Still, Mainz on own turf definitely look better than Augsburg away, with Die Fuggerstadter having already dropped six of their previous seven travels (W1 L6), failing to score in five of them. Augsburg have beaten Mainz in their last three meetings in all competitions, but have managed to collect just three points on their past seven trips to the capital of Rhineland-Palatinate (W1 L6), with the Zero-Fivers having lost just two of their past seven Bundesliga matches overall (W2 D3 L2).

Best bets:

Mainz to win (+130)

Mainz clean sheet (+230)

Correct score: 2-0 to Mainz (+1050)