Bochum vs. Mainz: probable line-ups, match stats and LIVE blog!

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Bochum's top-flight return after a decade away didn't exactly go to plan on Matchday 1 at Wolfsburg after Robert Tesche was sent off inside four minutes for handling on the line. Goalkeeper Manuel Riemann did save the penalty - earning him a spot in the Fantasy Team of the Week - but couldn't prevent Wout Weghorst making amends midway through the first half as the promoted club slipped to a 1-0 defeat. Thomas Reis has to make at least one change, either with a straight swap in midfield or the addition of an extra striker alongside the club's 15-goal top scorer last season Simon Zoller. However, two further absentees - in Maxim Leitsch and Christopher Antwi-Adjei mean further changes are coming, with a first top-flight glimpse of highly rated 19-year-old Armel Bella Kotchap alongside Vasileios Lampropoulos to be expected, while Gerrit Holtmann is also expected to start.

Szalai was a number of Mainz players forced to self-isolate ahead of Matchday 1, but those absences didn't prove a problem as Bo Svensson's team continued their excellent Rückrunde form from last season to beat title hopefuls RB Leipzig 1-0 on the opening day of this campaign. Captain Moussa Niakhate got the goal in the first half, meaning the 05ers' only defeat in any competition since the end of February was against Borussia Dortmund in the penultimate game of 2020/21. With players unlikely to be back in time, Svensson is set to stick with that winning line-up, which includes teenage academy products Niklas Tauer and Paul Nebel. New signing Jae-Sung Lee is likely to lead the line again, with Nebel and Jonathan Burkardt flanking him.

Match stats

Elvis Rexhbecaj scored one of his five Bundesliga goals for Cologne last season against Mainz, finding the back of the net to ear the Billy Goats a 1-0 win on Matchday 11.

Bochum have gone 13 games without a Bundesliga victory (D3, L10) and have lost each of their previous six matches in the top flight. Their last win came courtesy of the 2-1 victory at home to Hoffenheim on 13 February 2010 when they were last in the Bundesliga in 2009/10.

The Ruhr club have never beaten Mainz in the Bundesliga. Their record of one draw and five defeats is their worst against any team in the top division.

Matchday 1 match-winner Niakhate is in line to make his 100th Bundesliga appearance.

Mainz are on an eight-game unbeaten run away from home in the Bundesliga (W5, D3), which is a club record and the best current streak in the league.

The 05ers have, however, gone six games without a win against newly promoted sides (D3, L3).

Probable line-ups

Bochum: Riemann - Gamboa, Lampropoulos, Bella-Kotchap, Soares - Asano, Pantovic, Losilla (c), Rexhbecaj, Holtmann - Zoller

Out: Antwi-Adjei (thigh), Hartwig (groin), Leitsch (knock), Osterhage (muscular), Tesche (suspended)

Doubtful: Blum (match fitness), Stafylidis (match fitness)

Coach: Thomas Reis

Mainz: Zentner - Niakhate (c), Bell, Hack - Widmer, Tauer, Barreiro, Martin - Burkardt, Lee, Nebel

Out: Boetius (not included), Kohr (not included), Lucoqui (not included), Onisiwo (not included), Stach (suspended), St. Juste (not included), Szalai (not included)

Doubtful: -

Coach: Bo Svensson