Borussia Dortmund have the chance to close the gap on leaders Bayern Munich when they travel to Mainz for a rescheduled German Bundesliga fixture on Wednesday. The hosts have been near perfect at home lately but Dortmund are just as impressive on their travels and will be banking on their superior quality.
Mainz are coming off a 3-1 defeat at Union Berlin in their previous Bundesliga fixture. They failed to recover from a slow start and fell three goals down before Delano Burgzorg grabbed a late consolation.
Bo Svensson’s men sit well above the relegation zone but are not in contention for a finish in the European places. The defeat at Union Berlin means they have claimed just four wins from their last 10 Bundesliga matches.
That result will not be too troubling for Mainz as they return to MEWA Arena where they have won their last five Bundesliga matches. They claimed a 3-2 victory over Bayer Leverkusen in their previous home fixture.
It has been a while since there was a proper title race in the Bundesliga and Borussia Dortmund appear to be giving leaders Bayern Munich a close fight this season. They can move to within four points of the champions with a win on Wednesday.
Dortmund have claimed three wins and a draw from their last four Bundesliga matches and triumphed 1-0 in their previous fixture. Marco Rose’s men have also impressed on their recent travels with three wins from their last four away matches.
A major boost for Dortmund is the return of Erling Haaland, who featured for around 30 minutes on Sunday. Although the likes of Marco Reus and Donyell Malen stepped up in the striker’s absence, his return will bring extra cutting edge to the attack.
How the bookies view it
Borussia Dortmund have the upper hand among the bookies and are priced at 10/11 by SBK to claim the win. A victory for Mainz is valued at 3/1 by bet365 while a draw is set at odds of 56/19 by SBK.
Recent head to head
Borussia Dortmund often come out on top against Mainz and have won the last two meetings. They triumphed 3-1 in the reverse fixture back in October and also claimed a similar victory on their last visit to MEWA Arena.
Players to watch
Mainz often spread their goals across the team but Jonathan Burkhardt is their leading scorer with six goals. The young attacker will be the one to watch on Wednesday and is priced at 12/5 with bet365.
Erling Haaland’s impressive goalscoring record means he could be backed to find the net on his return from injury at 8/13 with bet365. However, having stepped up in the striker’s absence with five goals in his last three matches, Marco Reus could be worth keeping an eye on at 9/5 with Unibet.
Anything else catch the eye?
There have been over 3.5 goals in the last two meetings between Mainz and Dortmund and given the attacking quality on display, a repeat could be on the cards at 17/10 with BetVictor. Dortmund scored in both halves in the two matches and could set for a repeat at 8/5 with Unibet.
The last two meetings have produced more goals in the second half and Wednesday’s clash is likely to follow a similar pattern at 11/10 with Paddy Power.
This German Bundesliga match between Mainz and Borussia Dortmund will be played on Mar 16, 2022 and kick off at 17:30. Check below for our tipsters best Mainz vs Borussia Dortmund prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
