Mainz 05 take on Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga on Sunday, with the hosts full of confidence after picking up their first victory of the season last weekend to move out of the relegation places.
Hoffenheim, meanwhile, have failed to win any of their last six league matches, dropping to 12th in the table.
Match preview
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Having taken only one point from their first seven matches, last weekend's 3-1 victory at Freiburg was a huge step in the right direction for Jan-Moritz Lichte's side.
Jean-Phillipe Mateta was in simply unstoppable form, scoring a first-half hat-trick to extend his league tally to seven goals for the season.
The French forward fired Mainz into the lead after only 62 seconds after latching onto a through ball in behind Freiburg's suicidally high defensive line, before Florian Muller's spilled save fell into Mateta's path, allowing him to double the visitors' lead. He could not believe his luck when he easily found himself in behind once more, sealing his hat-trick and a crucial three points for Mainz despite a late rally from the hosts.
Lichte must ensure his side build on the momentum gained from the crucial win - and do not allow it to become viewed as a freak result - in order to stay out of the relegation places.
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Hoffenheim, meanwhile, secured qualification to the knockout stages of European competition for the first time in the club's history with a fourth successive win in the Europa League at Slovan Liberec on Thursday, but Sebastian Hoeness's side cannot buy a win in the Bundesliga at present.
They were only seconds away from recording a crucial three points against Stuttgart in a topsy-turvy Baden-Wurttemberg derby last weekend, but Marc-Oliver Kempf's injury-time equaliser earned the visitors a point in the 3-3 draw.
Christoph Baumgartner had given Hoeness's side the lead after a driving run through the Stuttgart midfield was matched by a superb curling effort from the edge of the area, but Nicolas Gonzalez's incredible solo effort levelled proceedings before Silas Wamangituka nodded Stuttgart into the lead heading into the break.
However, the returning Andrej Kramaric, making his first appearance for the club since testing positive for coronavirus in early October, played in Ryan Sessegnon, on loan from Tottenham Hotspur, to bring Hoffenheim level once more before Kramaric scored his seventh league goal in only four appearances this season from the penalty spot.
Kempf's header, though, denied Hoeness a first league victory since the stunning 4-1 win over Bayern Munich in late September, with the upcoming fixture against Mainz representing a good opportunity for his side to get back to winning ways, especially with Kramaric back in the team.
Mainz 05 Bundesliga form: LLLLDW
Hoffenheim Bundesliga form:
Hoffenheim form (all competitions): WLWLDW
Team News
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Lichte is without Phillipp Mwenie (joint tear) and Adam Szalai (knee) for the visit of Hoffenheim, but otherwise appears to have a clean bill of health to choose from.
Robert Quaison played in a slightly deeper role in the win at Freiburg, and may do so once more given it coincided with Mainz's best performance and result of the season so far.
Hoeness, meanwhile, remains without the likes of Kostas Stafylidis (shoulder), Benjamin Hubner (joint tear), Ermin Bicakcic (knee) and Sargis Adamyan (coronavirus).
However, the return of Kramaric makes everything a whole lot rosier for Hoffenheim, who can move into the top half with a win.
Mainz 05 possible starting lineup:
Zentner; St Juste, Hack, Niakhate; Oztunali, Barreiro, Quaison, Fernandes, Brosinski; Boetius, Mateta
Hoffenheim possible starting lineup:
Baumann; Bebou, Posch, Nordtveit, Akpoguma, Sessegnon; Grillitsch, Samassekou, Geiger; Baumgartner, Kramaric
We say: Mainz 05 1-3 Hoffenheim
With Kramaric back in the fold, we can see Hoffenheim punishing Mainz in transition on a few occasions in what should be an open encounter.
With Mateta in excellent form, too, there should be goals at Mainz on Sunday.
