Bayern Munich vs Mainzs: How to Watch, Betting Odds & Prediction
(Featured image: Alamy Images)
Champions Bayern Munich host relegation-threatened Mainz as the hosts desperately look to close the gap at the top of the Bundesliga table.
Munich currently sit second, ten points behind league leaders Bayer Leverkusen who play the following day.
How to Watch Bayern vs Mainz in the UK
UK viewers can watch the match live on Sky Sports Football. Kick-off is set for 2:30pm at the Allianz Arena.
Recent Form:
Bayern will be buoyed by Tuesday's 3-1 home victory against Lazio in the Champions League. Goals from Harry Kane (2) and Thomas Muller were enough to overturn their 1-0 defeat in the first leg and see them secure their place in the quarter-finals.
Thomas Tuchel's side have only won one of their last four league games however (2-1 vs Leipzig in February), and dropped more points last time out away at SC Freiburg in a 2-2 draw. Having won the Bundesliga in each of the last eleven seasons, Bayern are in real danger in losing out to Xabi Alonso's expansive Leverkusen side.
Any blame cannot be laid at the feet of Kane, however. The striker joined from Tottenham Hotspur in the summer and has netted 33 goals since despite his side's domestic struggles.
6 goals in 8 Champions League games this season 🌪️
— FC Bayern Munich (@FCBayernEN) March 5, 2024
Goal machine ⚙️⚽️ pic.twitter.com/oqyweGKmPD
Mainz meanwhile are also in desperate need for points, finding themselves in 18th place heading into the game in Munich. Sitting three points ahead of bottom-placed Darmstadt, Bo Henriksen's side are a point off Koln in 17th and nine from safety.
Karnevalsverein drew 1-1 with Monchengladbach last time out. The game also saw Mainz have a player dismissed for the second consecutive league game after Dominik Kohr was shown red in the final ten minutes. They last secured victory against Augsburg in February.
Team News
Bayern defensive midfielder Aleksandar Pavlovic is suspended, while right-backs Noussair Mazraoui (knock) and Sacha Boey (hamstring) are also doubts. Forward Kingsley Coman is unavailable until April with a ligament injury, and Bounna Sarr is out for the rest of the season due to an ACL injury.
Mainz have three players ruled out through suspension in the aforementioned Kohr, Jessic Ngankam and Leandro Barreiro. Maxim Leitsch and Nelson Weiper are both out until later this month with groin injuries, while Andreas Hanche-Olsen is sidelined until late-March with a hamstring injury. Edimilson Fernandes will also be missing due to ankle trouble.
Betting Odds
Bayern come in strong favourites to return to winning ways in the league. Bet365 have the Bavarians at 1/4 outright, carrying an implied probability of 80%. Mainz are predictably heavy underdogs given their position in the Bundesliga, coming in at 11/1 with BetMGM (an implied probability of 8.33%).
UniBET offer the draw at 6/1, with an implied probability of 14.29%.
Kane has been in superb scoring form for the home side this season. The Englishman comes in at a surprising 11/1 with BetFred to score a hat-trick on Saturday.
Prediction
Despite their recent struggles in the Bundesliga, OddsNow back Bayern to comfortably dispose of relegation-threatened Mainz at the Allianz Arena.