Tactics
Bo Svensson, who’s been head coach at Mainz for two years and eight months, is an exponent of high-intensity football. In doing so he predominantly uses a 3-4-2-1 formation, as he did in the last meeting with Eintracht in May and in the opening Bundesliga match of this season at Union, where his side slipped to a 4-1 defeat.
Absentees
Eintracht trio Sebastian Rode, Lucas Alario and Mehdi Loune will all miss the short trip to Mainz through injury.
For the Zerofivers, Jonathan Burkardt and Silvan Widmer are sidelined, but Andreas Hanche-Olsen returned to full training on Friday.
One to watch: Anthony Caci
Frenchman Anthony Caci is beginning his second season with Mainz. Before his move to Rhineland-Palatinate, the left-back played in France’s Ligue 1 for four years for Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace, where he also came through the youth ranks up to U19 level.
- He celebrated victory in the Coupe de la Ligue with Racing in the 2018/19 season.
- Caci played a key role in Mainz’s 1-0 win over SV Elversberg in the first round of the DFB Cup, with his run into the box earning the penalty that resulted in Ludovic Ajorque’s winning goal.
- Last season, the 26-year-old was on the field for over 2,200 minutes, featuring in 31 league games and two DFB Cup matches.
- “Titi” plays the most successful passes in the opposition half for Mainz.
Reunions aplenty
Aymen Barkok, Danny da Costa, Dominik Kohr und Stefan Bell trugen allesamt einst den Adler auf der Brust.
Marco Richter, Neuzugang bei den Rot-Weißen, und Jessic Ngankam kennen sich aus ihrer Zeit bei Hertha BSC.
Phillipp Mwene und Frankfurts Mario Götze und Philipp Max spielten gemeinsam für PSV Eindhoven.
