Bayern Munich: Five things to watch for against Mainz

Bayern Munich hosts Mainz on Matchday 15 of the 2021/22 Bundesliga season. Die Roten is coming off of another dominant showing against Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League and will be looking for another victory to round out the week. Mainz is entering this match following a big win as well as they defeated Wolfsburg 3-0 last weekend. Here are five things to watch for ahead of Saturday’s match.

Mainz nearing the top four places in the table

It’s been a strong start to the season from Mainz. After spending the majority of last season in the bottom half of the table, they have found themselves just four points away from reaching the top four in the Bundesliga. Having defeated Bayern once last season, Mainz is certainly capable of taking a positive result away from this fixture. Although Bayern will be favored to win this match, it could prove to be a closely contested 90 minutes. Mainz has shown they are a much different club this season.

Facing a strong defensive club

Mainz has been one of the best defensive clubs in the German top-flight thus far this season. They have conceded just 14 goals which is one goal less than Bayern has allowed. Freiburg is the only club that has conceded fewer goals than Mainz.

The most goals Mainz has conceded in a single match so far this season are three. Bayern on the other hand has had nine performances where they have scored three goals or more. This will be an interesting aspect of the match to watch for as Mainz looks to hold Bayern’s strong offense and limit their goal-scoring opportunities.

Robert Lewandowski’s record against Mainz

In 13 appearances for Bayern against Mainz, Robert Lewandowski has scored 13 goals. No other Mainz or Bayern player has scored this many goals against one another in the last 30 meetings between the two clubs. The Bayern striker enters this match having scored six goals in his last five league appearances and is in incredible form. Expect him to be a difference-maker if he is able to receive scoring chances.

Jonathan Burkardt’s strong start to the 2021/22 season

Burkardt has been having a tremendous season for Mainz thus far. The 21-year-old has scored seven goals in 14 Bundesliga appearances and he has accounted for 35% of his club’s goals. Burkardt has already scored two goals in three appearances against Bayern in his early career and he certainly is capable of being a difference-maker on Saturday.

A physical match

This could be a very physical match for Bayern as Mainz has shown they are not afraid to make challenges. To date, Mainz has committed the most fouls in the Bundesliga with 198 fouls committed already this season. They also rank third in the league for the most cards shown as they have accumulated 29 cards. Furthermore, they rank fourth when it comes to tackles won. These stats indicated it could be a hard-fought fixture on Saturday.