MAINZ desperately need a win against Hoffenheim to ease their relegation worries after watching Fortuna Dusseldorf move to within a point of them.
Achim Beierlorzer's men have drawn twice on the road since the Bundesliga's resumption but their only home game was a 5-0 thrashing by Leipzig.
And with Fortuna, who occupy the relegation play-off place, winning at home to Schalke in midweek to make it four games unbeaten, the heat is being turned up on Mainz.
Hoffenheim ended an eight-game run without a win when they beat Cologne 3-1 in midweek (below) so they will be keen to build some momentum as they chase a Europa League place.
It could come down to which side wants it more and this promises to be a fascinating battle.
How the bookies view it
This is a tricky one to call and that's reflected in the odds with Mainz 24/13 at Sportingbet and Hoffenheim 7/5 with William Hill.
I wouldn't be too surprised if this ended in a stalemate which is 13/5 at Ladbrokes. But Hoffenheim's superior strength in depth could just give them the edge during a tough run of games so I'll be backing them.
Recent head to head
Mainz produced their best performance of the season when they trashed Hoffenheim 5-1 away from home in November and are unbeaten in the last three head-to-heads.
This fixture last season ended in a 4-2 win for Mainz and that came after they had drawn 1-1 in Hoffenheim. Yet Hoffenheim had gone five games unbeaten against Mainz prior to that so they have a topsy-turvy history.
Players to watch
Mainz have suffered from a lack of firewpower all season, with none of their strikers even reaching five goals in the Bundesliga. Boss Beierlorzer threw on three forwards from the bench in midweek but still his side couldn't find a winner against 10-man Union Berlin.
Midfielder Robin Quaison is their top scorer with 12 but let me down when I tipped him to score against Cologne. So I'll switch to Karim Onisiwo, who has four for the season and came off the bench in midweek. The Austrian is 5/2 with Paddy Power for a goal and that's decent value if he starts.
Hoffenheim's Christoph Baumgartner let me down when I tipped him to score against Hertha Berlin, as did team-mate Steven Zuber when I flagged him up to net against Paderborn.
So I was cursing when both netted in midweek, wondering why it had taken them a few games more to find their shooting boots. Munas Dabbur stepped up his comeback from injury in that match, getting just under an hour, and I fancy the Israeli for a goal here at 7/5 with William Hill if boss Alfred Schreuder (below) starts him again.
Anything else catch the eye?
Goals have been flying in recently in this fixture, with four of the last five games seeing at least five strikes. They also battled out an epic 4-4 draw in 2016 so try over 3.5 goals at 11/8 with Genting.
In the last two games between these sides, far more goals were scored in the second half so try backing the second period to be the highest-scoring half at evens with Paddy Power.
This German Bundesliga match between Mainz and Hoffenheim will be played on May 30, 2020 and kick off at 14:30. Check below for our tipsters best Mainz vs Hoffenheim prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
