Hamburger SV - Mainz

The games between these two teams were always very tough as 42% of them ended in draws. The table positions occupied by Mainz and Hamburger enable them to try to get at the top 6 teams in the league. The direct clash between these two teams can play a major role in the final standings and this fact no doubt is being considered by both coaches.

The coaches of both teams rely heavily on highly athletic players, as the average height of the footbalers is over 180cm. Mainz' players are recognized specialists at winning aerial duels. This team rarely conceides goals from set pieces. It is quite likely that Hamburger will try to perform a fast football by trying to keep the ball on the ground. However, most often Hamburger uses long balls, but it is possible that in this meeting, such a strategy will not be efficient.

In turn, Hamburger is experiencing serious difficulties in defending set pieces, which, as we mentioned, is a major specialty of Mainz. Thorsten Fink relies mainly on the same first eleven, and problems with defending set pieces can not be solved quickly. Therefore it is rather possible for Mainz to score from a set piece. The 193cm tall forward of Mainz - Adám Szalai has scored 8 goals in 10 matches. Keeping away the Hungarian Szalai will be crucial for the good performance of the Hamburger. The Hungarian will undoubtedly benefit successfuly from some good long balls headed towards him.

The footballers of Mainz have received 26 yellow cards so far and it is no secret that they often make fouls in dangerous areas. Such opportunities will be very welcome for the experienced Van der Vaart, who is an expert in the successful implementation of such situations. Keeping possession of the ball is another weak feature in the game of Mainz. Thus, in this game we expect to observe mainly long control over the ball by Hamburger and Mainz waiting for opportunities to counter attack. Another aspect of the game of Mainz, which is at low level is defending against attacks down the wings. At Saturday, the attacking midfielder on the right for Hamburger, will probably be the effective Heung-Min Son, who has scored 5 goals already. On the left wing, Thorsten Fink has a great choice of four players of high quality, but it is most likely that Ivo Ilicevic will start the game. He has scored only one goal, but has achieved a good pass success rate of 80.2%.