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betting » Previews » Bundesliga: Hannover 96 - FSV Mainz 05

Bundesliga: Hannover 96 - FSV Mainz 05

By Joachim, BettingExpert.com | Edited


Matchday 29 sees two league neighbors collide on Saturday afternoon, when Hannover (currently sitting in fourth spot just behind Bayern Munich) at home take on FSV Mainz 05. For both teams this match will pretty much decide what to expect of the rest of the season, as Hannover still fights over the third place Champions League qualification spot with Bayern Munich, while Mainz is feeling both Nuremberg and Hamburg breathing down their neck in their bid for fifth place, which means qualifiying for the Europa League next season.

Bundesliga | Hamburger SV - Borussia Dortmund
There were plenty of reasons for Mainz to celebrate this season.
For short while after taking the lead against Borussia Dortmund last time out Hannover could dream of making the title race exciting again and be able to defend third place against Bayern Munich. That only lasted for a very short while though, it didn't take long for Dortmund to crush those dreams by scoring four consecutive goals against Hannover's inadequate defende, while Munich secured a late goal against Borussia Mönchengladbach to reclaim third place. Against Mainz 05 Hannover intend to make things look differently, and head coach Mirko Slomka (who got almost fired at the beginning of the season and could only stay because of a string of victories) has been insistent about wanting three points out of this match, to put pressure on Bayern Munich. Against Mainz there will probably be one change to the line-up, keeper Fromlowitz is injured and will be replaced by Ron-Robert Zieler.

Mainz 05 is, along with Borussia Dortmund and Hannover 96, yet another complete surprise team this season. Mainz are the side that seem to fade the most of those three teams however, and things would look differently if it weren't for their record seven straight wins at the start of the season. Whatever the result will be, this season will see Mainz achieving their best position ever in club history, much like Hannover 96 - at the start of the season this match would have been widely regarded as a likely battle for relegation rather than international competition. With a little bit of luck Mainz still might make the Europa League, but for that they will need at least a point out of this game, they are under a lot of pressure from Hamburg and Nuremberg. There will be three changes to the Mainz line-up, keeper Wetklo will be replaced by Heinz Müller, while Marco Caligiuri and Sami Allegui will play instead of the suspended right wingback Christian Fuchs and striker Florian Heller.

Probable line-ups

Hannover 96

Zieler - Cherundolo, Haggui, Pogatetz, Schulz - Schmiedebach, Pinto - Rausch, Stindl - Abdellaoue, Ya Konan

Missing in action:

Avevor, Andreasen

FSV Mainz 05

Müller - Bungert, Svensson, Noveski, Fathi - Caligiuri, Polanski, Ivanschitz - Holtby - Allagui, Schürrle

Missing in action:

Fuchs, Karhan, Soto, Szalai

Prognose

Bundesliga | Hannover 96 - FSV Mainz 05
So far the two teams have met nine times in Bundesliga history, Hannover has won four times while Mainz got two victories out of their encounters. Hannover are clear favorites for the match on Saturday afternoon, especially because Hannover are very strong at home - in fact they are the third best home team this season just behind Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. Hannover have to be very careful though, Mainz is a side that is resilient and tough to break down, especially for sides that dominate possession. It will be an exciting game that will be very close, a narrow victory for Hannover seems very likely here. Lookk for Didier Ya Konan to score yet another deciding goal.


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betting » Previews » Bundesliga: Hannover 96 - FSV Mainz 05