Sports Mole previews Sunday's Bundesliga clash between Mainz 05 and FC Koln, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Mainz 05 taking on FC Koln on Sunday is an undoubted Bundesliga relegation six-pointer at Mewa Arena.

The gameweek 31 encounter is expected to go ahead, despite the discovery of an unexploded World War II bomb around the stadium, and the visitors are desperate for maximum points to suck the 05ers back into the mire at the bottom and boost their survival prospects.

Match preview Reuters

Since being blown to smithereens by Bayern Munich on March 9, Mainz have secured 11 points from an available 15 in the German top flight.

The response to the 8-1 hammering by Thomas Tuchel's men has boosted the Carnival Club's hope of retaining their Bundesliga status in the campaign's culmination.

Having gone three months without a league win between November and February, Mainz have notched four victories against Augsburg (1-0), Bochum (2-0), Darmstadt (4-0) and Hoffenheim (4-1).

Three victories have come since mid-March, giving Bo Henriksen's charges confidence heading into the campaign's concluding games, with Sunday's clash with Koln carrying significance for both clubs' futures.

The 05ers undoubtedly head into this weekend confident in their chances, having avoided defeat on home turf in six matches at MEWA Arena, securing four wins in that period, including three straight triumphs.

It remains to be seen if Koln end the Carnival Club's sequence of home triumphs, even if that possibility appears slim for the second-bottom visiting side.

The Billy Goats have claimed just two wins in 2024, their recent one coming in a 2-1 home victory over third-bottom Bochum in early April, but it has not been the fillip that supporters hoped.

Two losses have followed that April 6 triumph, with Timo Schultz's troops failing to score against Bayern Munich (2-0) and Darmstadt (2-0), thus seeing them miss the chance of climbing the table.

Despite only two places and five points separating both clubs heading into round 31, Koln are underdogs on Sunday, considering the results in recent weeks.

Digging deeper, the travelling support will brace themselves for disappointment, having failed to claim maximum points away from home since beating Darmstadt 1-0 at the start of December.

Even though only three losses in eight have been suffered in four winless months on the road, the side with the fourth-fewest points on their travels in the Bundesliga will not expect a second victory outside North Rhine-Westphalia this weekend.

Mainz 05 Bundesliga form:

FC Koln Bundesliga form:

Team News Reuters

Jae-Sung Lee and Tom Krauss are suspended for the home side after picking up their fifth yellow cards of 2023-24 in last week's draw at Freiburg.

Leandro Barreiro (hip) and Andreas Hanche-Olsen (ankle) are doubtful for the 05ers, but Stefan Bell (illness), Jessic Ngankam (hamstring) and Maxim Leitsch (muscle) are absent.

While Leart Paqarada and Dejan Ljubicic are touch-and-go for Koln due to illness, the trio of Davie Selke (foot), Justin Diehl (muscle) and Luca Kilian (knee) are not expected to feature on Sunday.

Faride Alidou has netted three of his four Bundesliga goals on the road, and all have been scored in 2024. The 22-year-old should start on Sunday, keen to come up trumps for the second-bottom side.

Mainz 05 possible starting lineup:Zentner; Kohr, Van den Berg, Fernandes; Caci, Guilavogui, Amiri, Mwene; Gruda, Burkardt; Onisiwo

FC Koln possible starting lineup:Schwabe; Schmitz, Hubers, Chabot, Finkgrafe; Thielmann, Christensen, Martel, Kainz; Alidou, Waldschmidt

We say: Mainz 05 2-1 FC Koln Despite Koln's tendency to nick points on the road, Sunday's game should favour the hosts. Mainz losing only two of their last 11 home games against the Billy Goats (four wins), securing 13 points from 15 under Henriksen and conceding twice in their last five Bundesliga games, with Koln letting in 11 in the same period, all point to a home victory this weekend.

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