Preview: Mainz 05 vs. Werder Bremen - prediction, team news, lineups

Mainz 05 will be looking for their first win of the Bundesliga season when they host Werder Bremen on Sunday at Mewa Arena.

The home side are currently 12th in the table with two points after two matchweeks and drew 3-3 with Stuttgart last time out on August 31, while the visitors are 13th with two points and drew 2-2 with Borussia Dortmund on the same date.

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Match preview

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Mainz should be praised for the resilience they displayed against Stuttgart considering they were 2-0 down after just 15 minutes, but managed to level the scoreline with goals from Nadiem Amiri in the 43rd minute and Jonathan Burkardt in the 62nd minute.

Fabian Rieder gave Stuttgart a 3-2 lead in the 88th minute, but Maxim Leitsch scored Die Nullfunfer's third of the game and ensured that his side left with a deserved point.

The hosts drew their opening league game 1-1 against Union Berlin on August 24, a match in which they had 54% possession and produced two big chances from their 14 shots, but also faced 15 shots and two big chances.

Boss Bo Henriksen's side have proven difficult to beat in recent Bundesliga matches and are undefeated in their last 11 league fixtures, winning five and drawing six.

Mainz are also unbeaten in their last nine top-flight home games, though they did lose the prior game at Mewa Arena 1-0 against Werder Bremen on February 3rd.

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The visitors come into the clash having drawn against Borussia Dortmund, and while taking a point against Dortmund is by no means a bad result, they may feel they should have done more to take advantage when Nico Schlotterbeck was sent off in the 73rd minute.

Werder Bremen only managed to produce one shot after the centre-back was sent off, whereas they had produced four shots in the rest of the game.

In their first match of the league season on August 24, Die Werderaner drew 2-2 against Augsburg in what was an evenly contested match, with both sides producing 11 shots and creating three big chances.

Manager Ole Werner will be concerned that his side have created the second fewest big chances of any team in the division, and have averaged the third fewest shots on target per match so far.

Werner's team are unbeaten in their last seven league fixtures, winning three times and drawing on four occasions, and have scored 14 times in those games.

Werder Bremen are also unbeaten in their last three away Bundesliga matches, though they lost three of the previous four fixtures on the road.

Mainz 05 Bundesliga form:

Mainz 05 form (all competitions):

Werder Bremen Bundesliga form:

Werder Bremen form (all competitions):

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Team News

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Mainz have a relatively healthy squad to choose from, though they do have doubts about the availability of defender Andreas Hanche-Olsen and midfielder Silvan Widmer.

The hosts could select Anthony Caci and Phillipp Mwene as wing-backs either side of midfielders Kaishu Sano and Nadiem Amiri.

As for Werder Bremen, Naby Keita continues to be excluded from the squad and will not feature.

Elsewhere, midfielder Oliver Burke and defender Milos Veljkovic are both doubts, though the pair are expected to return from injury this month.

Mainz 05 possible starting lineup:
Zentner; Kohr, Jenz, Leitsch; Caci, Sano, Amiri, Mwene; Hong, Lee; Burkardt

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We say: Mainz 05 1-0 Werder Bremen

Though Mainz are yet to win this season, they demonstrated against Stuttgart that they are difficult to beat.

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