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Havard Nielsen was Fürth's hero on Matchday 19, scoring with a deflected effort within 30 seconds of taking to the field as a substitute to put the Bavarians ahead at Arminia Bielefeld. They conceded a late equaliser to draw 2-2, though, and remain rooted to the foot of the table with 11 points separating them from safety, and little margin left for error. Nielsen will believe he did enough to earn a start against Mainz this weekend, in support of Jamie Leweling and Branimir Hrgota. Coach Stefan Leitl also has a choice to make between Jetro Willems and Luca Itter, who was taken off while on a yellow card in Bielefeld and could start on the bench this time. Sascha Burchert will continue in goal but now also faces competition from new signing Andreas Linde.
Mainz met Bochum for the second time in a matter of days in midweek, but after a 1-0 win in the Bundesliga, they fell to a 3-1 defeat in the DFB Cup. Jeremiah St. Juste was rested for that game having been the matchwinner on his comeback from injury last weekend, and he should return to the heart of the defence in Bavaria. Jae-Sung Lee also had a break in midweek with Kevin Stöger taking his place, and both will be battling it out for one place in support of Karim Onisiwo and Jonathan Burkardt, who also benefited from a rest in midweek, as the 05ers look to reduce the four-point gap to fourth place despite sitting down in 10th.
Match stats
Greuther's four-goal Hrgota is on his longest goalless run of the season (six matches).
That being said, Fürth are enjoying their best run, having taken six points from the last 15 on offer.
Julian Green is yet to score in 16 Bundesliga appearances, spanning spells at Bayern Munich, Hamburg and Fürth.
Burkardt hasn't scored since putting away his seventh Bundesliga goal of the season on Matchday 14.
Ahead of his 40th Bundesliga match in charge, Svensson still boasts the best points-per-game average of any Mainz coach (1.54).
St. Juste is the fastest player in Bundesliga history after being clocked at 22.76 mph (36.63 km/h) this season.
Probable line-ups
Fürth: Burchert - Meyerhöfer, Griesbeck, Viergever, Willems - Seguin, Christiansen, Tillman - Nielsen - Leweling, Hrgota (c)
Out: Funk (knee), Kehr (knee), Ngankam (knee)
Doubtful: Hoogma (not included), Jung (match fitness)
Coach: Stefan Leitl
Mainz: Zentner (c) - St. Juste, Bell, Niakhate (c) - Widmer, Barreiro, Stach, Lee, Martin - Onisiwo, Burkardt
Out: Ingvartsen (groin), Kohr (thigh), Tauer (adductor)
Doubtful: Szalai (head)
Coach: Bo Svensson