RB Leipzig travel to Mainz this weekend in the Bundesliga, hoping to put pressure on leaders Bayern Munich with a victory.
Julian Nagelsmann’s side are four points behind Hansi Flick’s troops, but they will fancy their chances of beating Mainz, who remain in the bottom two after a shocking run of form.
Here's how the table looks after the first half of the season
Best home side
Best defencePlenty to build on
#RBLeipzig pic.twitter.com/6eXseCRL9a
— RB Leipzig English (@RBLeipzig_EN) January 21, 2021
Mainz are nine points from safety in the Bundesliga, with their last win coming at the end of November. They have since lost seven games in all competitions, including an early exit in the DFB Pokal after losing on penalties to Bochum.
Mainz have lost their last four at home without scoring, and it does not bode well with RB Leipzig coming to town.
Nagelsmann’s team have lost just one of their last 12 in all competitions, and they are unbeaten in six on their travels. During that time, they have scored 14 goals, and they appear to have every chance of winning to nil at odds of 29/20.
Gladbach Primed to Climb Above Dortmund
Borussia Dortmund cannot seem to string a set of results together, and they have now gone two matches without a win. That run of results has left them 10 points behind rivals Bayern and Gladbach are capable of climbing above them this weekend.
The two sides meet on Friday evening at Borussia-Park and Gladbach will be confident they can end their poor run against Dortmund. BVB have won each of their last 11 league games against Gladbach, but their recent form cannot be ignored.
Gladbach are unbeaten in five, including successive home wins against Bayern Munich and Werder Bremen.
While Dortmund have struggled of late, they have netted nine in their last five league games on the road and backing both teams to score, and a Gladbach win looks a strong bet at odds of 7/2.
Schalke Braced for Difficult Afternoon
Even though Schalke beat Hoffenheim two weeks ago, they remain in big trouble in the Bundesliga.
They are rock-bottom of the table due to their dire goalscoring record and, after successive defeats, they now welcome Bayern to the Veltins-Arena.
Schalke have won just one of their last 16 at home in the league, while it is 20 games without a win against Bayern. That is their longest-ever winless run against a Bundesliga side in professional football, and it doesn’t look like ending anytime soon.
Bayern started the season with an 8-0 victory over Schalke and Flick’s side will fancy their chances of recording another big win. Bayern are 5/4 to score over 3.5 goals this weekend, while striker Robert Lewandowski has a superb record against Schalke.
He has scored at least once in each of his last ten league games against Schalke, and the Poland international is 6/4 to score first this weekend.
All odds correct at time of writing.