With five games to go in the fight for survival at the bottom of the Bundesliga table, Stuttgart will go in search of a crucial win on Saturday, when they travel to take on Mainz 05.
The visitors find themselves just a point above the bottom three after a defeat to Borussia Dortmund last time out.
Match preview
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Despite having to battle through a season of inconsistency, Mainz have, at least, managed to keep themselves away from the threat of relegation in the Bundesliga, amassing 11 wins and 38 points from their 29 games thus far.
Bo Svensson's side all but confirmed their top-flight status with wins over high-flying duo Hoffenheim and Bayer Leverkusen and a 4-0 thrashing of Arminia Bielefeld in a six-game stretch between mid-February and mid-March.
They have been unable to build on that since, though, having firstly played out a draw with strugglers Borussia Monchengladbach before suffering back-to-back defeats heading into this weekend.
Die Nullfunfer firstly fell to Augsburg, before being beaten 3-2 in an eventful meeting with FC Koln last time out, as they led 2-0 through Jonathan Burkardt and Karim Onisiwo, only for the hosts to turn the game on its head after the hour mark and send them home empty-handed.
While they are not playing to avoid relegation to the second tier, Svensson's side will still be aiming for as high of a league finish as possible, and, with the chance to improve on their 10th-placed position at the weekend, they will be keen to make a return to winning ways.
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Stuttgart arrive in a far more desperate situation, with the visitors only leading the relegation zone by one point.
Having been heavily involved in the battle for survival throughout the season, Die Roten found themselves stuck in the automatic drop zone at the beginning of March, but they have been able to improve their standing thanks to an upturn in form.
Pellegrino Matarazzo's side firstly stopped a nine-game winless run by beating Borussia Monchengladbach 3-2, and they followed that up with a commendable draw against seventh-placed Union Berlin and a vital 3-2 victory in a six-pointer against Augsburg.
Die Roten trailed 2-1 heading into the final 10 minutes, but Omar Marmoush levelled the game and Tiago Tomas hit an 85th-minute winner to snatch all three points, before they were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw in another pivotal clash with Arminia Bielefeld.
Now on the back of a 2-0 defeat to Borussia Dortmund, Matarazzo's men sit just a point above the relegation playoff place and the automatic drop zone, and, while they have given themselves a better chance of survival, they will know they have far more work to do if they are to avoid the drop, starting with a win at the weekend.
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Team News
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Mainz have an unenviable injury list to deal with, as Jeremiah St Juste, Alexander Hack, Lee Jae-sung and Finn Dahmen are all set to miss out, while Niklas Tauer is a major doubt.
Karim Onisiwo will continue to lead their line, having hit five goals and provided eight assists in 27 Bundesliga appearances this term.
He works well with exciting young attacker Jonathan Burkardt, who netted his 10th league goal of the season last time out.
Stuttgart midfielder Atakan Karazor is suspended for Saturday's game after his latest yellow card against Borussia Dortmund, while Nikolas Nartey and Mohamed Sankoh are set to remain in the treatment room alongside exciting winger Silas.
Young Sporting Lisbon loanee Tiago Tomas should again play a key role in attack, having hit three goals in his nine league appearances for Die Roten so far, while Omar Marmoush is another threat on the right wing.
However, important striker Sasa Kalajdzic missed out on the Borussia Dortmund game and could continue a spell on the sidelines.
Mainz 05 possible starting lineup:
Zentner; Nemeth, Bell, Niakhate; Widmer, Stach, Kohr, Caricol; Boetius, Onisiwo, Burkardt
Stuttgart possible starting lineup:
Muller; Stenzel, Mavropanos, Ito, Sosa; Endo, Mangala, Anton; Fuhrich, Tomas, Marmoush
We say: Mainz 05 1-1 Stuttgart
Stuttgart certainly have more to play for in this game and will be desperate for three points to increase their lead over the bottom three, but they face a tough test.
Given the absences they are dealing with, we opt for a draw on Saturday, with Mainz also likely seeing the meeting as a good opportunity to add to their points tally.
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Mainz 05 win with a probability of 52.82%. A draw had a probability of 24.5% and a win for Stuttgart had a probability of 22.64%.
The most likely scoreline for a Mainz 05 win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.8%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (9.73%) and 2-1 (9.61%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.66%), while for a Stuttgart win it was 0-1 (7.08%). The actual scoreline of 0-0 was predicted with a 7.2% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted a draw in this match.
