Looking back: Third clash of the season
In the Bundesliga home match, Stuttgart came out on top 2-1 thanks to goals from Chris Führich and Deniz Undav. Just three days later, in the second round of the cup in Mainz, Luca Jaquez and Atakan Karazor clinched a 2-0 victory for Sebastian Hoeneß’s men.
We meet again: Silas faces former teammates
Silas, who made 132 appearances for VfB between 2019 and 2024, is set to come up against his former teammates for the first time since completing a permanent move to Mainz in January.
Good record: Will ‘Medo’ score his first goal for VfB against Mainz?
Ermedin Demirovic has netted four times in nine matches against Mainz – all of them in an FC Augsburg shirt, though. The striker played twice against the 05ers last season without getting on the scoresheet, while he missed the double-header in October 2025 due to injury.
Slow starters: Mainz concede most in first 15 minutes
No team have conceded more goals in the opening quarter of an hour of matches than Mainz this season (nine). VfB, in contrast, have let in four goals in this period. The hosts are also considerably more vulnerable to headers than Stuttgart. While Mainz have conceded 10 headed goals – the joint most in the league – the Cannstatt boys are top of this category with just one.
Tackling: Quality over quantity
Mainz contest the most duels per game (108) but have the third-worst success rate (42 percent), whereas VfB go into fewer duels (92 per game, 16th in the league) but win them more often (54 percent, best in the league).
Attendance: Full away end
VfB will have the backing of 3,400 supporters at the MEWA ARENA.
Team news: Three absentees for VfB
Josha Vagnoman and Lazar Jovanovic are unavailable for the trip to Mainz due to injury, while Bilal El Khannouss is suspended after picking up five yellow cards.
The hosts have a longer injury list, with Robin Zentner, Nadiem Amiri, Benedict Hollerbach, Anthony Caci and Andreas Hanche-Olsen all sidelined.
