Stuttgart vs Mainz Preview: Team News & Prediction
by Alex Sarwar ·
Updated
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Stuttgart can make it five league wins on the bounce here and subject Mainz to a fourth straight league defeat in the process.
Kick-off date/time:
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Stuttgart preview: Eyes on the Champions League
After having gotten a taste of the Champions League last season, clearly Stuttgart wants to experience it again. Sebastian Hoeness’ DFB-Pokal holders may be settling for just the Europa League in 2025-26, but if they can maintain their recent form in the Bundesliga, then a place in Europe’s top table could beckon again in 2026-27.
Heading into the eighth round of Bundesliga fixtures, Stuttgart sits in third-place following four consecutive victories ahead of their next match. Whilst Hoeness is known for his attacking style of play, Stuttgart have given up just one goal over the course of those four wins.
Mainz preview: Tough balancing act
After a brilliant 2024-25 campaign that saw Mainz overachieve and finish with a place in Europe, it was expected that competing in the Conference League would likely have an adverse effect on their results domestically, just like they did for Heidenheim last season. That certainly appears to have been the case, as Mainz have now lost their last three Bundesliga games and four of their last five.
These results have caused them to drop right down the table and they kick off here inside the bottom three. Whilst the team continues to fight hard, as demonstrated last weekend in a 3-4 defeat at the hands of Bayer Leverkusen, things just aren’t falling their way at the moment.
Stuttgart team news: Several issues
Stuttgart are dealing with several key issues ahead of the visit of Mainz to the VfB Stadion this weekend. Both Justin Diehl and Ermedin Demirovic are sidelined, whilst Silvas and Jamie Leweling are attacking doubts.
Predicted XI: Neubel; Jaquez, Chabot, Hendriks; Assignon, Chema, Stiller, Mittelstadt; Tomas, Nartey; El Khannouss
Unavailable: Diehl (Injured), Demirovic (Injured)
Questionable: Silas (Injured), Leweling (Injured)
Mainz team news: A few issues
As they travel to Stuttgart, Mainz are dealing with a couple of key doubts for this one, such as Maxim Leitsch and Nelson Weiper, with the latter picking up a knock in midweek against Zrinjski, whilst both Anthony Caci and Maxim Dal are confirmed absentees.
Predicted XI: Riess; Da Costa, Bell, Kohr; Veratsching, Sano, Amiri, Mwene; Nebel, Lee; Hollerbach
Unavailable: Dal (Injured), Caci (Injured)
Questionable: Leitsch (Injured), Weiper (Injured)
Stuttgart vs Mainz prediction
On paper, this does not feel like a good match-up for Mainz. They’re running into a motivated Stuttgart side bang in form and looking to keep a grip on their place in the top four. It would be a surprise if they were not able to breach what has been a fragile Mainz backline of late and the visitors could well begin to tire badly as the game goes on with Stuttgart likely to control large periods of it.
Whilst this may not be as straightforward as the form book suggests with Stuttgart themselves having played in Europe midweek, losing away to Fenerbahce, they should still have enough left in the tank to get past a Freiburg side lacking belief right now. It can be very hard to arrest a slump when it takes hold and so backing a home victory appears the smart play in this one.
Stuttgart vs Mainz tip: Stuttgart to win
