Mainz 05 vs. Eintracht Frankfurt preview: Visitors hoping for third-time lucky in search for win

Eintracht Frankfurt will be targeting their first win of the Bundesliga season when they face Mainz 05 in Saturday’s Rhine-Main derby at the Mewa Arena.

Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images

Mainz 05

Mainz head into matchday three in fifth position after collecting four points from their opening two games against newly-promoted sides. Urs Fischer’s side played out a goalless draw with Paderborn before they found their shooting boots in an emphatic 5-0 away win over Hamburger SV. Sheraldo Becker and Phillipp Mwene struck to give Mainz a two-goal lead at the break, before Phillip Tietz netted a brace, adding to the four goals he scored in last month’s 9-0 win over Krieschow in the DFB-Pokal. There was still time left for ex-Hamburg striker Ransford-Yeboah Königsdörffer to score his first Mainz goal against the club he left in the summer. 

While Mainz’s five-goal haul caught the eye, Fischer would have been pleased with a second straight clean sheet, especially as they are the one team yet to concede in the Bundesliga this season. They are also one of six teams yet to lose in the top flight, along with Augsburg, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Elversberg and Freiburg. 

They should be confident of their chances of extending their unbeaten start, having lost just one of their 18 Bundesliga home matches against Frankfurt (W7, D10), including a 2-1 victory in their most recent encounter in March.

Team News

Mainz are unable to call upon Dominik Kohr, Silvan Widmer, Paul Nebel and Silas. Eric Martel is closing in on a return to action, although Saturday’s contest will come too soon for the defensive midfielder. 

Robin Zentner, meanwhile, is set to start in goal after recovering from the minor injury that kept him out of the win over Hamburg.

Click here to see Mainz's predicted lineup for the Rhine-Main derby.

Eintracht Frankfurt

Adi Hütter started his second spell as Frankfurt boss with an 11-0 thrashing of SC St. Tonis in the DFB-Pokal, but he has since overseen a disappointing start to the Bundesliga season. Die Adler spurned a 3-1 advantage in their opening-day draw against Union Berlin before they gave up another lead in last weekend’s heavy 4-1 defeat to Augsburg.

Jonathan Burkardt’s sixth-minute opener proved enough to give Frankfurt a slender half-time advantage at Deutsche Bank Park. However, they soon found themselves behind, conceding twice inside the opening two minutes of the second period. Another two goals followed as they slumped to a disappointing loss, leaving them in 13th place ahead of the Rhine-Main derby. 

Frankfurt have failed to win their last five away games against Mainz, although four of those contests finished all square. Rather than a draw, they will be targeting their first head-to-head away success since picking up a 2-0 victory in January 2021. 

Team News

Frankfurt are remain without the injured Jessic Ngankam. Nnamdi Collins and Ansgar Knauff have made good progress in their respective recoveries, although the latter is yet to return to team training. 

Click here to see Frankfurt's predicted lineup for the Rhine-Main derby.