Borussia Mönchengladbach vs. 1. FSV Mainz 05 Preview: Lichte faces former club in interim role

Jan-Moritz Lichte will face his former club Mainz in his first — and possibly last — game as Gladbach’s interim coach.

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Borussia Mönchengladbach will hope to end their losing streak before the international break as their interim coach Jan-Moritz Lichte starts his spell against his former club.

Gladbach

For the second season running, Borussia Mönchengladbach sacked their coach after matchday 3. Eugen Polanski was in a similar spot to Lichte last term, but he has now left the club as they started the campaign with three defeats.

Lichte did take all three points when he made his coaching debut for Mainz in the absence of the suspended Sandro Schwarz back in the 2019/20 season. However, he was relieved of his duties after getting the job on a temporary basis the following season as Mainz only picked up 6 points in the first 11 games.

Team News

Tim Kleindenst will be suspended after his red card in the 5-0 defeat to league leaders Freiburg. Summer signing Isac Lidberg could replace the captain as Gladbach’s striker. Daiki Hashioka, who scored a debut goal against Schott Mainz in the DFB-Pokal, is expected to return after missing the last two games due to an injury.

Irrespective of the result on Saturday, Lichte will not be expected to keep his role as Gladbach intensify their search for a permanent coach. With an extended international break around the corner, Gladbach will have ample time to appoint their desired candidate after the game.

Mainz

Mainz were also on the receiving end of a matchday 3 defeat, but they kept clean sheets in the first couple of weeks. Urs Fischer’s side were unfortunate to not find a breakthrough against newly-promoted Paderborn before scoring five past HSV.

They also had a strong start against Eintracht Frankfurt, but Nadiem Amiri’s penalty-kick miss didn’t help their cause. In the end, Mainz’s all-time Bundesliga top-scorer Jonathan Burkardt guided the visitors to a 3-1 victory at Mewa Arena.

Team News

Alexander Schwolow will make his second appearance in Mainz’s goal after Robin Zentner’s latest injury. Fellow summer signing Eric Martel could also make his debut as he’s now recovered from an injury. Benedict Hollerbach made his long-awaited return from an ACL injury in last week’s defeat to Frankfurt.

Head-to-Head

It was against Fischer’s Union Berlin that Lichte suffered his heavy defeat (0-4) at Mainz in the third matchday of the 2020/21 season. Gladbach won at Mainz last season with Danny da Costa’s own-goal before Amiri’s injury-time strike salvaged a point for Fischer’s men in the reverse fixture.

Florian Neuhaus scored the last time the Foals won this fixture at home as his goal rounded off a 3-1 comeback victory back in January 2020.

Predicted Lineups

Click here to see our predicted Mainz vs. Gladbach lineups.