RB Leipzig will be eager to bounce back to winning ways when they take on FSV Mainz at MEWA Arena on Saturday.
The 2023/24 Bundesliga season continues this week with Matchday 10. The latest round of fixtures gets underway on Friday, with Saturday’s action kicking off with five simultaneous games. One of those will see rock-bottom FSV Mainz welcoming RB Leipzig to MEWA Arena.
1. FSV Mainz could not have envisioned a start to the 2023/24 season as horrendous as they have made thus far. The 05ers are without a win after the first nine rounds of fixtures and sit at the bottom of the Bundesliga table. The dreadful run has cost Bo Svensson his job, with Jan Siewert taking temporary charge of the team.
On the other hand, RB Leipzig will head into Matchday 9 in fifth in the Bundesliga standings. The visitors are yet to lose a game in the German top flight this term, but a few performances have been sub-par. Meanwhile, Marco Rose’s men head into the game on the back of a 1-0 defeat to VfL Wolfsburg, a result that ended the defence of their DFB Cup.
The corresponding fixture last season saw RB Leipzig coming from a goal down to hold Mainz to a 1-1 draw. The Hard Tackle takes a closer look at the encounter ahead of the latest meeting between the two sides.
Team News & Tactics
1. FSV Mainz
🎙️ Christian Heidel: "I've experienced a few coaches leaving the club. This hurt everyone. It reminded me a bit of Klopp's farewell because we all had a lump in our throats."#Mainz05 pic.twitter.com/cpZsu9pLlx
— Mainz 05 English (@Mainz05en) November 3, 2023
Jan Siewert has a few pressing injury concerns hampering his preparations ahead of his first game since replacing Bo Svensson. The FSV Mainz interim boss will be bereft of four first-team players against RB Leipzig on Saturday.
Andreas Hanche-Olsen (ankle), Brajan Gruda (ankle), Jonathan Burkardt (knee), and Nelson Weiper (hamstring) are on the sidelines. In addition, Anwar El Ghazi is currently serving a suspension after a recent political statement.
The home side will line up in a 4-3-2-1 formation against RB Leipzig, with Robin Zentner taking his spot between the sticks. Danny da Costa and top scorer Anthony Caci should be the two full-backs. The duo will flank Stefan Bell and Sepp van den Berg at the back.
As for the midfield unit, Dominik Kohr will sit at the base, looking to keep things tight in the middle of the park. He will receive defensive support from Leandro Barreiro and Tom Krauss, with the duo also providing the creative impetus from the centre of the pitch.
Lee Jae-sung and Karim Onisiwo will play just behind the central striker, looking to overload the RB Leipzig box with their ghosting runs. Finally, Ludovic Ajorque will spearhead the Mainz attack against Leipzig this weekend.
Probable Lineup (4-3-2-1): Zentner; Da Costa, van den Berg, Bell, Caci; Barreiro, Kohr, Krauss; Lee, Onisiwo; Ajorque
RB Leipzig
Unlike Jan Siewert, Marco Rose does not have many issues to deal with ahead of the trip to MEWA Arena. The RB Leipzig boss will be without three first-team players on Saturday, with Willi Orban (knee), El Chadaille Bitshiabu (knee), and Dani Olmo (shoulder) still on the sidelines.
While Olmo is a notable absentee for the away side, Xavi Simons’s form and output means the visitors have not felt the Spaniard’s absence much. Simons and Emil Forsberg will provide the forward thrust from the central areas, with Lois Openda and Timo Werner being the two strikers.
ℹ️ Squad update
Dani Olmo has had an operation on his shoulder after injuring it in our Bundesliga game against Köln. The surgery went well and our number 7 is feeling good. pic.twitter.com/HGi1AUO8Ay
— RB Leipzig English (@RBLeipzig_EN) November 3, 2023
So, the exit-linked Benjamin Sesko will find himself on the bench, with his frustrations growing. As for the midfield unit, Kevin Kampl and Xaver Schlager will retain their spots in the middle of the park. The duo has forged a solid partnership in the double pivot and will look to shut out the home side’s threat.
Meanwhile, Janis Blaswich should start ahead of Peter Gulacsi in the goal, with RB Leipzig lining up in a 4-2-2-2 formation in front of him. Finally, Benjamin Henrichs, Mohamed Simakan, Castello Lukeba, and David Raum will complete the numbers in the backline.
Probable Lineup (4-2-2-2): Blaswich; Henrichs, Simakan, Lukeba, Raum; Schlager, Kampl; Xavi Simons, Forsberg; Openda, Werner
Key Stats
- 1. FSV Mainz have lost only one of their last five Bundesliga meetings with RB Leipzig, picking up ten points — twice as many as in the club’s first nine top-flight encounters with the club (5, W1 D2 L6).
- 1. FSV Mainz are yet to keep a clean sheet this season and have already conceded 24 goals. Only SV Darmstadt 98, with 30, have let in more.
- 1. FSV Mainz last kept a clean sheet in the 3-0 win over RB Leipzig on April 1, 2023, and have conceded 43 goals in 17 matches since then. They can equal their longest run without a shut-out (18), set between September 2005 and March 2006.
- Mainz are currently bottom of the table and are yet to win this season. With just three points on the board thus far, it is their worst-ever start to a top-flight campaign.
- RB Leipzig have a haul of 20 points from nine games, the second-best return in the club’s top-flight history. Only in 2016/17 did they have more points (21) at this stage of the campaign.
Player to Watch
Lois Openda
Benjamin Sesko will be under the spotlight when he inevitably takes the field off the bench. But Lois Openda is our pick for this section, with the Belgian striker taking the Bundesliga by storm in his debut season.
The Red Bulls smashed their transfer record to sign the 23-year-old from RC Lens. Openda has vindicated RB Leipzig by taking to the Bundesliga like fish to water. But he must not relent in the long season to come, considering Bayern Munich’s slow start to the campaign has brought other contenders into the title picture. So, he will be eager to add to his haul on Saturday.
Prediction
1. FSV Mainz 1-3 RB Leipzig
A managerial change tends to galvanise an underperforming squad. That might be the case this weekend with a struggling FSV Mainz. The 05ers should take the game to their visitors, putting them under pressure after a surprising loss in the cup game this week.
But RB Leipzig’s quality should overpower a resurgent Mainz team, with Lois Openda and Xavi Simons running riot. The visitors have been hard to contain for their opponents, and that should continue on Saturday. The Hard Tackle predicts a 3-1 win for Marco Rose and his charges, with FSV Mainz still waiting to get on the wins column.
