Borussia Dortmund vs Mainz
Borussia Dortmund have begun 2021 in impressive fashion. Back-to-back wins over top-six foes have launched them back into the Bundesliga title race.
Edin Terzic’s side will now aim to complete a hat-trick of wins to start the new year as they host bottom-club Mainz.
Mainz have lost five of their last six and are in danger of going down. However, they have picked up a couple of victories in recent visits to Signal Iduna Park, and they will look to upset the Bundesliga 2021 betting odds once again.
Talking Points
Dortmund make a bright start to 2021
Borussia Dortmund did not have a great end to 2020. They won just one of their last five matches last year, including a 5-1 hammering at the hands of Stuttgart, which led to Lucien Favre’s firing.
Edin Terzic has taken over on an interim basis, and BVB have won three of their first four matches under their caretaker manager.
After beating Wolfsburg 2-0 at home to start 2021, they came away with an impressive 3-1 victory at RB Leipzig last week.
Erling Haaland was brilliant as he scored a brace in his second game back from injury. Meanwhile, Jadon Sancho scored for the second straight game after failing to get a single goal in the first 13 games of the season.
The fact that Haaland is back healthy and Sancho is back to creating Bundesliga 2021 highlights are huge for Dortmund, who rely heavily on those two young superstars to lead their attack. The likes of Marco Reus and Gio Reyna are good players, but Haaland and Sancho take Dortmund to another level.
It should be noted that there’s a decent chance Terzic decides to make a few changes to his side, especially with another big match against third-placed Bayer Leverkusen coming up in midweek.
Still, Dortmund have some strong attacking options in reserve, and they figure to get ample chances against a Mainz defence which has already conceded 33 goals, the second-most in the league.
Mainz in danger of the drop
Mainz are in major trouble. After Schalke’s shock 4-0 over Hoffenheim, Mainz are now rock-bottom in the Bundesliga with just 6 points through 15 games. They have now lost five of their last six league games after losing 2-0 at home to Eintracht Frankfurt.
Prior to that match, Mainz faced Bayern Munich and gave the champions a scare by going up 2-0 in the first half. But Bayern stormed back in the second half to win 5-2.
Those are the only goals Mainz have scored in their last five games. They have scored just 14 goals in 15 games, half of which have come from Jean-Philippe Mateta.
However, the French forward has cooled off significantly after a hot start to the season; he hasn’t scored since his hat-trick in a 3-1 win over Freiburg on November 22nd.
Meanwhile, Swedish striker Robin Quaison — the club’s leading scorer last season with 13 goals — has just 2 thus far.
Mainz don’t have much going for them, but it should be noted that they have been slightly better away from home this season. Aside from taking a surprise lead at Bayern, their lone win of the season also came away to Freiburg. They’ve also scored more goals away than at home (8-6) while playing one game fewer.
History
Dortmund hold a significant 15-5 edge in wins against Mainz over their last 23 meetings. However, two of Mainz’s five victories came at Signal Iduna Park — and they both came relatively recently.
The first came in 2018 as early goals from Ridle Baku and Yoshinori Muto gave them a 2-1 win. And last season, Jonathan Burkhardt and Mateta scored in a shock 2-0 victory.
That was after Dortmund won the first meeting at Mainz 4-0, with Reus, Sancho, and Thorgan Hazard all finding the net.
Betting Tip
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Borussia Dortmund vs Mainz | Borussia Dortmund Asian Handicap -1.75 @ 1.72 |
| January 16, 22:30 (GMT+8) |
Unsurprisingly, SBOTOP odds have Dortmund heavily favoured at 1.20 at home, with Mainz massive 10.50 underdogs. A draw also has high odds of 7.20.
While Mainz have sprung upsets in recent visits to Dortmund, that appears unlikely this time around. BVB are in a bit of a roll under Terzic, who will be keen to keep the positive momentum going.
And with both Haaland and Sancho in fine form, Dortmund should have too much for the bottom club in the league.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR ( ) BETS ARE WORTH: |
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|---|---|---|---|
 = €20 (Highly confident) |
= €10 (CONFIDENT) |
= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT) |
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Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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