Preview: Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Mainz 05 - prediction, team news, lineups

Eintracht Frankfurt take on Mainz 05 in the Bundesliga on Sunday, with the visitors looking to extend their unbeaten run to nine matches as they attempt to move further clear of the relegation zone.

Frankfurt, meanwhile, may need to win in order to remain in the Champions League qualification places.

Match preview

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Frankfurt will be casting a watchful eye on how Borussia Dortmund fare against title-chasing RB Leipzig on Saturday, with Edin Terzic's side only one point behind them heading into the weekend.

After beating Dortmund a little over a month ago, Frankfurt looked like shoo-ins to join Bayern Munich, Leipzig and Wolfsburg as Germany's representatives in next season's Champions League.

However, four successive wins has seen Dortmund move to within one point of Frankfurt and two points of Wolfsburg, with Adi Hutter's side losing to Bayer Leverkusen last time out.

Andre Silva's 25th league goal of the season ultimately proved nothing more than a consolation one, with Leon Bailey, Lucas Alario and Kerem Demirbay condemning Frankfurt to a second defeat in three matches.

Should Dortmund avoid defeat against Leipzig, Frankfurt will head into Sunday's meeting against in-form Mainz outside of the Champions League places, so Hutter will be desperate to increase his chances of completing the job ahead of his summer switch to Borussia Monchengladbach by beating Bo Svensson's side on Sunday.

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It will certainly not be an easy task for the hosts, though, with Mainz currently on an eight-match unbeaten run as they look to mathematically secure their Bundesliga survival for a 12th successive season.

Svensson has performed miracles since taking over as manager in January, guiding the club he spent seven years as a player at between 2007 and 2014 to 29 points from his 17 matches in charge.

Extrapolated across an entire season, that would put Mainz only three points behind their forthcoming opponents Frankfurt, and therefore right in the mix for a Champions League qualification spot, too.

However, having picked up only six points prior to the winter break, even a fine record like Svensson's has not proven enough to ensure Mainz's safety yet. Mainz missed an excellent chance to do so against Hertha Berlin, who had not played for over three weeks due to a COVID-19 outbreak, on Monday, drawing 1-1 in an even affair.

Pal Dardai's side have since moved five points behind Mainz after beating Freiburg 3-0 on Thursday, with Arminia Bielefeld - who are also five points behind Mainz - dropping into the relegation playoff position as a result.

FC Koln are a point further back in the first automatic relegation playoff position, so a win against Frankfurt on Sunday would almost certainly seal Mainz's survival.

Team News

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Frankfurt will be without the suspended Evan N'Dicka after the defender picked up his 10th league caution of the season during the defeat to Leverkusen.

Martin Hinteregger should replace him in the back three, with Makoto Hasebe also pushing for a start.

Given their recent defeats, Hutter may be tempted to restore Amin Younes to the side in place of Luka Jovic.

Ragnar Ache and Jabez Makanda will be out for the rest of the season due to injury.

Mainz, meanwhile, will also be without a key defender in the shape of Stefan Bell after he picked up his fifth booking of the season against Hertha.

Alexander Hack is likely to replace him in Svensson's back three, with the likes of Robin Quaison and Robert Glatzel pushing for a start in attack.

Paul Nebel and Luca Kilian will miss the rest of the season due to injury.

Eintracht Frankfurt possible starting lineup:
Trapp; Tuta, Hinteregger, Hasebe; Durm, Sow, Rode, Kostic; Younes, Kamada; Silva

Mainz 05 possible starting lineup:
Zentner; St Juste, Hack, Niakhate; Da Costa, Kohr, Barreiro, Boetius, Mwene; Burkardt, Quaison

We say: Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 Mainz 05

We expect a closely fought encounter between two sides who have performed considerably above expectations since the turn of the year.

Mainz showed signs of running out of steam against Hertha on Monday, though, so Frankfurt's attacking quality could get them over the line in the end as they look to take a huge step towards qualifying for next season's Champions League.

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