Having lost to Ingolstadt last weekend, Mainz once again showcased a lack of defensive solidity during the week as they were beaten 3-2 at home by Leipzig. With these two results behind them, Saturday’s visitors are very much in the midst of a relegation scrap.
Goals are often on the cards when Mainz play and this match shouldn’t be any different. The goals are expected to arrive in no small number against a Freiburg side who’re also partial to a high-scoring encounter. Both ‘Over 2.5 Goals’ and ‘Over 2.5 Goals & Both Teams to Score’ are two ways in which play this one.
Although Freiburg are enjoying a considerably better campaign than their opponents, the hosts have also found themselves leaking a few too many goals of late. Christian Streich will be pleased that his side have scored in each of their last five matches, but the fact that they’ve kept just one clean sheet and have conceded a total of nine goals during that time is anything but pleasing.
Freiburg certainly offer enough going forward; however, a few cracks in their rearguard have started to appear, cracks that were particularly evident when they conceded five against Bremen last time out on home soil. In fact, conceding goals at home is becoming something of a habit with Freiburg failing to keep a clean sheet in any of their last six at home. Both teams have scored in five of those six, while ‘Over 2.5 Goals’ has landed in five too.
When it comes to both scoring and conceding, Mainz have been following a similar path. The visitors are more than capable of causing teams problems, but are seemingly incapable of keeping them out. Martin Schmidt has now seen his side concede at least once in each of their last five Bundesliga matches, while they’ve kept only five clean sheets all season, and just two away from home. In scoring twice against Leipzig during the week, ultimately in vain, Mainz proved, with players such as the electric Jhon Córdoba, that they can definitely hurt teams, it’s just a matter of keeping things tight at the other end – something which continually proves to be a step too far.
In their last ten combined, this pair have only failed to find the back of the net on one occasion, while they’ve kept just a single clean sheet between them during that time. In addition, ‘Over 2.5 Goals’ has landed in 69% of Freiburg’s home matches this season and in 77% of Mainz’s away fixtures.
Quite frankly, neither of these two sides can be trusted to shut their opponent out and, therefore, the fans at Schwarzwald-Stadion are expected to be treated to goals all round on Saturday afternoon.
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