FC Augsburg - FSV Mainz 05

Some of you are following me for long time now and you know what I have written to begin of the Season about FC Augsburg. The situation is exactly what our prediction was as every small team who played an excellent Season and reached an international spot are doing really bad the next Season. Almost all small teams which were involved in international matches like Aachen, Frankfurt, Mainz and Freiburg had a really difficult and hard Season. Additional all these teams fight against relegation because they do not have the squad for so many matches and also on such a high level. They have to invest much more as bigger teams and this cost a lot of power, power which is not available in league games and with every lost game the mood is getting from bad to worse. This is exactly the Point Augsburg reached at the moment and they have to go through hard times now. Of course the Team with all Coaches working hard to find some solutions but this is not as easy as expected. Above all the style of play has changed a lot, last Season they could play from a compact defense and come over their fast wings to good opportunities, this Season more different with a lot of ball possession and more controlling of the game because all teams come to Augsburg and play much more defensive minded as last Season. This is not the preferred style of play from them and they have not the players in the squad for this new style but they have to look forward and find some solutions for the actual situation.    

The team from Mainz has had not the best moment lately and they are on a huge losing run. Never in history they have lost 3 matches at home in a row. Things must be changed immediately and after the hard defeat to Werder Bremen Coach Schmidt said that they have to give their supporters some back for this awful play from them. According to this result they have to make amends and try to invest much more as they have done lately. Coach Schmidt demands a reaction from his players and he knows that they are able to bring much better performances as they had delivered in these matches. A good sign should be that they play away from home because the pressure should not be such high on them. This let them play much more relaxed and they are not under the aspect they have to make the game. It is not the style of Mainz to control a game, they did much better if they can play from a good compact defensive over both wings very fast what allowed them to create much more and be much more dangerous as well in the past. One of the key players should be Malli who is one of the heads in Mainz offensive play and if he has a good day they can take advantage of him. Moreover all the other players beside him get more space and can make some trouble on the defense of the opponent. 

Both teams with a lot of problems lately as both are not able to be the active team in a game. These teams are more effective if they can sit back and give the opponent a lot of ball possession while they can wait for some mistakes and get a lot of space for their counter attacks. The home team Augsburg has the position that they are in a situation where Mainz allow them to control the game but this is not their preferred style of play and also they have not the players for this. Therefore we believe that Mainz can take advantage in this game and get a result in the end.   

PICK: FSV Mainz 05 AHC +0,25 @ 1,98 (3 Units / Flat Stake)