Mainz v Vfb Stuttgart
Bruchwegstadion
Sunday,22nd August 2010 – kickoff 15:30

Mainz

Mainz did a great job this summer signing the 25-year old Danish International striker Morten Rasmussen from Celtic Glasgow who will be a great addition to the team. Starting from next week he will play as the only striker in the team`s formation. Rasmussen should be a good replacement to Aristide Bance who was the top striker of Mainz last season with ten goals, but made a surprising move to Dubai and joined Al-Ahli.

In this match the team will play with one striker - Sami Allagui who joined the club from Greuther Fürth and signed a three-year contract with the club. Also the club signed the veteran 38-year-old goalkeeper Martin Pieckenhagen who joined the team from the Dutch side Heracles Almelo. Also a good addition in the defense will be Christian Fuchs who joined the team from Vfl Bochum and will take his place as left defender in the back line.

Last season was more than successful for the club as they finished in the top half of the table at the ninth place.

It seems that quite few teams in the Bundesliga have problems with injured goalkeepers and Mainz are no exception as their first goalkeeper Heinz Müller is facing a long time absence after tearing ligament of his right knee in a friendly match against Alemannia Aachen a few weeks ago.

Probable Mainz line-up :
Wetklo,
Zabavnik, Svensson, Noveski, Fuchs,
Karhan, Polanski, Holtby, Simak, Ivanschitz,
Allagui

Vfb Stuttgart

Vfb Stuttgart finished sixth last season and their aim for this season is to move in the top four clubs and to taste Champions league football once again.

The team is almost the same as the last season, the players are well established in the squad so coach Gross has reasons for cheer in front of the start of the new season. However, big loss was the transfer of Sami Khedira to Real Madrid. Khedira was one of the main players and leader of the team, but Vfb Stuttgart have signed Philip Degen on loan from Liverpool who should fill in the gap in the back line.

A bit worrying is the situation in the defense as the team had played three competitive matches so far and conceded five goals. Against Molde in the Europa League(3-2 win and 2-2) and last weekend they knocked out Babelsberg from the DFB Cup by winning 2-1.

For this match Serdar Tasci is not able to play due to an injury and Khalid Boulahrouz will be his replacement in the defense. Stefano Celozzi (ruptured muscle), the captain Matthieu Delpierre (surgery) will be out of the team for some time as they need time to recover.

Probable Vfb Stuttgart line-up :
Ulreich ,
P. Degen, Boulahrouz, Niedermeier, Molinaro,
Gentner, Kuzmanovic,Trasch, Gebhart,
Cacau, Pogrebnyak

The Betting Verdict

Mainz were among the top home sides last season but i am not that convinced that they can repeat the last season`s performance and finish in the top half of the table again.

Vfb Stuttgart will play on three fronts this season as they have obligations in the DFB Cup and in the Europa League as well but having on mind their capacity and choice of players i expect them to start the season with a good run.

Mainz are well known by their tight defense and i am sure they will do anything to surprise the big favorite but i do not think that they will hold on to the end. Cacau has been well rested and prepared for the Bundesliga as he was part of the German national team this summer in South Africa but played only once so he will be eager to start his campaign for top Bundesliga scorer.

This match might be tough and tighter than expected but at the end i think that Vfb Stuttgart will find a way for a narrow win.

The Statistics :

The Pick :

Mainz 0-1 Vfb Stuttgart

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Take the Away win for Vfb Stuttgart