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

The visitors, meanwhile, will be looking to build on their sensational 3-1 victory against Bayern Munich last weekend.

Match preview

Wolfsburg recorded their own impressive win last time out, with Niko Kovac recording their third win in four matches on the road by thrashing relegation contenders VfL Bochum by five goals to one.

Goals from Matthias Svanberg, Jakub Kaminski and Patrick Wimmer provided the Wolves with a comfortable three-goal cushion at half-time, before Svanberg doubled his personal tally for the afternoon little more than 10 minutes after the break to put any minor doubts about the result at Vonovia Ruhrstadion to bed.

Moritz Broschinski and Luca Waldschmidt exchanged blows late on, but claiming all three points keeps Wolfsburg firmly in the hunt towards achieving European qualification spot at the end of the campaign.

Indeed, should seventh place prove enough for a European spot, Sunday's meeting between these sides could have a huge bearing on which side represents Germany in the Europa Conference League next season, although catching Bayer Leverkusen - who have an important Europa League semi-final tie potentially set to distract them - in sixth is not entirely out of the equation for either team.

After finishing eighth in his first full season in charge last time around, Bo Svensson will be hoping to hold off Wolfsburg and potentially take Mainz back into Europe for the first time since the 2016-17 campaign.

Die Nullfunfer have put together a hugely impressive unbeaten run of 10 league games within the past few months, culminating in their stunning 3-1 win against the reigning champions last weekend.

Sadio Mane had fired the Bavarians into a half-time lead, but Mainz possess the capability to take the game away from any opponents in a flash, and so it proved once again with Ludovic Ajorque, Leandro Barreiro and Aaron Caricol scoring three goals within 14 second half minutes to blow the title race wide open.

Svensson will be keen for his players to keep pushing between now and the end of the season as, although they have almost certainly left it too late in terms of catching the top four, finishing within the top six to guarantee European football is a realistic target for them.

Wolfsburg Bundesliga form:

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Mainz 05 Bundesliga form:

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Team News

Wolfsburg will be without Micky van de Ven after the defender incurred a one-match suspension due to being booked against Bochum, with Nicolas Cozza set to replace him at left-back.

Kilian Fischer, Kevin Paredes, Paulo Otavio, Lukas Nmecha and Bartol Franjic all remain sidelined through injury, but Omar Marmoush and Sebastiaan Bornauw should be able to shake off minor issues to be available for selection if called upon.

Mainz, meanwhile, will travel without Jonathan Burkardt due to a long-term knee injury, but Edmilson Fernandes should have recovered from a knock to make the trip to Lower Saxony.

After beating Bayern last time out, Svensson is unlikely to make any changes to his starting XI, meaning Ajorque will be closely supported by Karim Onisiwo and Lee Jae-sung once again.

Wolfsburg possible starting lineup:

Casteels; Baku, Bornauw, Lacroix, Cozza; Svanberg, Arnold, F Nmecha; Wimmer, Wind, Kaminski

Mainz 05 possible starting lineup:

Zentner; Fernandes, Bell, Hanche-Olsen; Widmer, Barreiro, Kohr, Caci; Stach, Onisiwo; Ajorque

We say: Wolfsburg 1-2 Mainz 05

Mainz have built serious momentum for themselves with an unbeaten run of 10 matches, and they should be full of confidence after dispatching Bayern last weekend.

Wolfsburg have failed to win any of their last six home games and, although four of those have ended in draws, we can envisage a narrow victory for the away side on Sunday.

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