Schalke vs Mainz prediction: GERMANY: Bundesliga betting tips on match 2022-11-08 19:30.
Thomas Reis will hope that the third time's the charm in his Schalke reign (L2), but concerningly the two defeats under Reis so far are part of a worrying joint club-record seven straight Bundesliga defeats. The 2-1 defeat at Werder Bremen last time out also extended Schalke’s run of winless top-flight away games to an all-time Bundesliga joint record 35, so a return to Gelsenkirchen for one last home game ahead of the winter break may be welcomed.
A return to the second-tier beckons for Schalke unless they can seriously turn their form around as they’ve only been marginally better at home (W1, D1, L4) than away. The Royal Blues have conceded a league-high 17 home goals so far which makes for a shocking 2.83 per match average – a deadly mix when combined with the fact they enter this clash looking to end a run of over three hours without scoring at home.
One positive for Schalke is Reis’ decent personal record against Mainz (W3, L2), combined with the fact that the 05ers have let in nine goals across their last two games, both of which unsurprisingly ended in defeat. Visiting boss Bo Svensson will hope that those defeats were just a blip though considering his side had scored ten unanswered goals before their form took a nosedive.
Playing away likely won’t bother Mainz, as only three sides can boast more than their 12 point away haul after the previous round (W4, L3), whilst two of their three road defeats were against title-chasing Bayern Munich and Freiburg. As the only Bundesliga side to play at least twice as pre-match favourites away from home and still have a 100% win-rate, Svensson will be hoping to keep that record intact and edge closer to the European places ahead of the break.
Players to watch: Dominick Drexler’s 89th-minute strike last time out couldn’t save Schalke from defeat, meaning each of his last four goal contributions came in losing causes (G2, A2). As for Mainz, Marcus Ingvartsen’s joint career-best run of five straight scoring appearances ended at the weekend, but he will hope to get back on the scoring trail against a side he has never beaten (D3, L1).
Hot stat: Mainz have picked up an average of 2.67 points per game when scoring first (W5, D1), as opposed to just 0.17 when conceding the opener (D1, L5).