Bayern Munchen will be aiming to clinch their 31st Bundesliga title when they take on Mainz on Matchday 31.
The Bavarians recorded a routine 2-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen in midweek, and, as a result, they are only one point away from defending the domestic trophy.
Robert Lewandowski has not been sorely missed of late, and given Choupo-Moting’s fine form, away win should be considered.
Die Nullfunfer, on the other hand, recorded important back-to-back wins over Koln and Werder Bremen in the previous two league fixtures, but the relegation strugglers will have a much bigger fish to fry against the league leaders.
Since Mainz suffered a loss in each of their previous seven meetings with Bayern Munchen, we do not believe that the hosts are capable of grabbing something from the match.
In the previous meeting between the two sides Bayern Munchen rolled over Mainz 5-2.
Mainz vs Bayern Munich Head-to-head
Teams FSV Mainz Bayern Munich played so far 32 matches.
FSV Mainz won 4 direct matches. Bayern Munich won 25 matches. 3 matches ended in a draw. On average in direct matches both teams scored a 3.97 goals per Match.
Mainz vs Bayern Munich Prediction
FSV Mainz in actual season average scored 1.38 goals per match. In 13 (65.00%) matches played at home was total goals (team and opponent) Over 1.5 goals. In 9 (45.00%) matches in season 2021 played at home was total goals (team and opponent) Over 2.5 goals.
Bayern Munich average scored 2.67 goals per match in season 2021. In 20 (83.33%) matches played away was total goals (team and opponent) Over 1.5 goals. In 17 (70.83%) matches played away team was total goals (team and opponent) Over 2.5 goals.
Team News:
Mainz are likely to remain without Danny da Costa due to personal reasons, while Paul Nebel and Luca Kilian are injured.
Svensson may bring Jonathan Burkhardt back into the side for his added workrate and ability to drop deep, with Karim Onisiwo potentially making way, but otherwise it is likely to be an unchanged XI from the side which narrowly dispatched Bremen in midweek.
Lewandowski returned to full training during the week and may even return to Bayern's starting XI, with the Poland striker desperate to break Gerd Muller's record of 40 goals in a Bundesliga season.
The 33-year-old requires six goals from Bayern's final four games to break Muller's long-standing record set in the 1971-72 season, which looks a tall order for a player returning from a month out due to a knee injury.
Only a fool would write a goalscorer of his calibre off, though; after all, he is averaging very close to 1.50 goals per game in the league this season.
However, Bayern have no fixture next week due to the DFB-Pokal semi-final's taking place, so Lewandowski may be eased into things from the bench once the match has potentially opened up, particularly given Choupo-Moting's excellent form.
Niklas Sule and Serge Gnabry will also hope to be involved having appeared to recover from a thigh issue and COVID-19 respectively, but likewise Flick may see no reason to rush the pair back into things.
Leon Goretzka could start in midfield having returned from injury from the bench against Leverkusen, with Flick having the option of resting David Alaba, Kimmich or Alphonso Davies.
Marc Roca, Ron-Thorben Hoffmann, Corentin Tolisso, Douglas Costa and Malik Tillman are all ruled out of the trip to Mainz and face a race against time to feature again this season.
Mainz 05 possible starting lineup:
Zentner; St Juste, Bell, Niakhate; Brosinski, Barreiro, Kohr, Boetius, Mwene; Szalai, Burkhardt
Bayern Munich possible starting lineup:
Neuer; Pavard, Boateng, Hernandez, Davies; Kimmich, Goretzka; Coman, Muller, Musiala; Choupo-Moting