RB Leipzig vs FSV Mainz 05 Predictions

• Seven of the last eight meetings between the sides have featured four or more goals
• Leipzig failed to win in ten of their 17 home games last season
• Leipzig scored exactly three in each of their final four home league wins last term, three of which ended 3-1

Goals set to flow in fiery opener

Leipzig had a memorable time of things against Mainz last season, winning their two Bundesliga meetings by a combined score of 13.

Leipzig won 8-0 at home in November last year before following up with a 5-0 rout at Mainz in May. However leading scorer Timo Werner, who netted a hat-trick in both hammerings, has left for Chelsea, so an equally emphatic victory seems unlikely.

Hee-chan Hwang has been snapped-up from Salzburg as Werner’s replacement and he hit the ground running with the final goal in Leipzig’s 3-0 DFB Pokal win at Nuremberg last weekend. That said, he is unlikely to have the same influence, particularly so early in his development.

Leipzig, who impressed in reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League last term, failed to win in ten of their 17 home games last season and may take time to hit top stride.

Mainz finished the last campaign strongly with defeat in only five of their final 13 games with victories over Borussia Dortmund, Hertha Berlin and Frankfurt in that period.

Seven of the last eight meetings between the sides have featured four or more goals, with Leipzig winning on five occasions and reigning supreme in three of the four to take place on their home soil. 

We predict the hosts to prevail in an entertaining encounter, with a chance taken on a correct score of 3-1. Leipzig scored exactly three in each of their final four home league wins last term, three of which ended by that scoreline.