Schalke eye first home win against in-form Mainz
Gelsenkirchen - Having thus far failed to build-on a convincing opening-day victory at SV Werder Bremen, FC Schalke 04 now go in search of their first home victory when they welcome in-form 1. FSV Mainz 05 to the Veltins Arena on Sunday (kick-off 17:30 CEST).
The Royal Blues have only picked up one point from a possible six in the league, drawing 1-1 with SV Darmstadt and losing 3-0 away at VfL Wolfsburg in their last two matches, while Martin Schmidt's Mainz have won two on the bounce since slumping to a surprise defeat to FC Ingolstadt 04 on the opening day. bundesliga.com presents all the pre-match facts and figures at a glance...
History
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Top facts
- Against Hannover last time out, Mainz celebrated their biggest ever win under Martin SchmidtDie Nullfünfer have only ever won once in Gelsenkirchen - a 3-1 victory on 7 May 2011Schalke have won all their games against Mainz that have taken place during the first half of the campaign. In the second half of the season, though, the Royal Blues have beaten the carnival club only onceJohannes Geis made 65 appearances for Mainz before joining die Knappen during the summer transfer windowMainz are one of the most hard-working clubs in the top flight, having covered an average distance of 117.9 kilometres per game so far this seasonYoshinori Muto scored his first brace for Mainz on his third Bundesliga appearance. No other Japanese player has scored twice in a single Bundesliga game as quickly as the 23-year-old
Team news
Schalke
Possible line-ups: Fährmann - Junio Caicara, Matip, Neustädter, Aogo - Geis, Höjbjerg - Choupo-Moting, Sane - Huntelaar, di Santo
Absentees: Giefer (groin), Nastasic (achilles), Uchida (light training)
Mainz
Possible line-ups: Karius - Balogun, Bungert, Bell, Bengtsson - Latza, Baumgartlinger, Moritz - Clemens, Malli - Muto
Absentees: Beister (ankle), Frei (groin), Jairo (calf), Soto (knee)