In this week 23 match, on Friday Feb 18th, Mainz 05 plays host to Bayer Leverkusen in a meeting of these two Bundesliga teams. Weather on match day is looking like a cloudy and cool day, with daytime temperatures of only 7 degrees, making for an unpleasant day. 9th placed Mainz 05 is fresh off their 1-1 draw against Freiburg. Alexander Hack scored the first goal for Mainz 05 in the 31st minute, then Nils Petersen tied it up for Freiburg in the 69th minute earning Freiburg a comeback draw. Mainz 05 is looking for direction having 4 win and 5 losses in their last 10 matches, while 3rd placed Bayer Leverkusen is fresh off their 4-2 win against Stuttgart. Moussa Diaby struck first for Bayer Leverkusen in the 41st minute, but Tiago Tomás got the equalizer for Stuttgart in the 49th minute , but Bayer Leverkusen kept scoring and walked away with the win. With 20 points in their last 10 matches Bayer Leverkusen should be reasonably happy with their performance.
In their last match on the 25th of September, Bayer Leverkusen was victorious by a score of 1 to 0. Florian Wirtz struck first for Bayer Leverkusen in the 62nd minute, and that single goal was all that was necessary as neither team could manage any more scoring In the end, Mainz 05 was frustrated by Bayer Leverkusen’s defence and couldn’t put any tallies on the board. Bayer Leverkusen ended the match with the shutout victory.
Moussa Diaby has been on a hot streak lately. In the last five games, hes scored five goals for Bayer Leverkusen. Mainz 05’s most prolific scorer has been Karim Onisiwo. He has netted two goals over the last 5 matches
Ádám Szalai and Jeremiah St. Juste are unavailable to play for Bo Svensson’s team, while Paulinho, Julian Baumgartlinger, Daley Sinkgraven and Exequiel Palacios are unavailable to play for Bayer Leverkusen.