Mainz vs Gabala – Thursday 18:00 GMT/19:00 CET Opel Arena – Mainz.
Mainz vs Gabala will take place at the Opel Arena in Mainz – Image by Mainzerize CC-BY-SA-3.0
Both Mainz and Gabala are already out of contention in the Europa League group stage. Mainz, in particular, who were somewhat unfortunate to lose to Bayern München at home on Friday, have a busy Bundesliga calendar ahead of them, and could, therefore, look to field a somewhat weakened squad for the matchday 6 encounter against Gabala.
Gabala, on the other hand, will be motivated to finally record their first point in the Europa League this season. Indeed, Gabala came close to securing a victory in Gabala against Mainz, coming from behind to overturn a 1-0 deficit, only to see the lead once again evaporated by an industrious Mainz side, who would walk away with a 3-2 victory.
The Colombian striker, Jhón Cordoba, in particular, impressed that evening, as the Mainz forward was also in good form against Bayern München on Friday, scoring the opening goal, and being a constant threat to the Bavarians.
The Colombian will likely feature against Gabala on Thursday, and the Azeri will have to do well to stop the burly forward, who plays much like Chelsea legend Didier Drogba.
Gabala have bled goals during the competition, conceding 12 goals in just five games. Hence, do not be surprised if Mainz runs up the scoreline, despite the fact that head coach Martin Schmidt could field a somewhat weakened side.
Mainz vs Gabala – Players to look out for:
Bagaliy Dabo has been the club’s top scorer this season with seven goals in eight Premyer Liqasi games. Another player to look out for is the 24-year-old Georgian midfielder, Nika Kvekveskiri, who dictates Gabala’s play from the midfield.
Mainz vs Gabala – Match Stats
- Gabala are facing Bundesliga opposition for the second time in as many UEFA Europa League campaigns. They lost 3-1 at home, and 4-0 away to Borussia Dortmund.
- To date, all 20 UEFA fixtures—including seven UEFA club competition games—between the two countries have been won by German representatives.
- Gabala are the only team to have lost all five Europa League group stage games this season.
- Only three previous clubs lost all six Europa League group stage matches—Shamrock Rovers, Slovan Bratislava, and Metalist Kharkiv.
- Gabala have yet to win a UEFA Europa League group stage match in 11 attempts.
- They picked up two points last season.
- The journey from Gabala to Mainz is 3,200km.
Futbolgrad’s Prediction: Mainz vs Gabala 3-0
Possible Lineup
Mainz 05
Formation: 3-5-2
Lössl – Hack, Bell, Balogun – Brosinski Frei, Malli, Ramalho, Donati – Onisiwo, Córdoba
Manager: Martin Schmidt
Gabala
Formation: 4-3-3
Bezotosny – Ricardinho, Rafael Santos, Verydub, Abbasov – Kvekveskiri, Sadiqov – Ozobić, Weeks, Mammadov – Dabo
Manager: Roman Hrygorchuk
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