On Saturday afternoon (15:30 CET), FC Augsburg will face their neighbours in the table, 1. FSV Mainz 05. A win would move FCA above Mainz and be another important step.

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“We will travel to Mainz with a very positive feeling,” said head coach Enrico Maaßen, who is pleased with the development of his side: “against Leverkusen we managed to come out on top in a very tight game. Now we also want to get more points against teams from the lower half of the table.” It has been a long and intense week of training for the Red-Green-Whites, in which Maaßen was able to work with a large group of players.

Only Ruben Vargas and Irvin Cardona, who are still training individually after the injuries they picked up in the Dortmund game, and Reece Oxford and Iago (lack of training) are unavailable for the game in Mainz. While Mads Pedersen is still slightly injured and only partially training, Ermedin Demirović will return to the starting eleven after his yellow-card suspension. New signing Renato Veiga, who received a red card in his last game for Sporting B, has also served his suspension, and the 19-year-old Portuguese player is also an option for the squad.

Mainz “tenacious in defence”

“We know how difficult the task is, but we are well prepared and feel good,” explained Maaßen. The FCA manager described the Zerofivers as “tenacious in defence, strong from set plays and very good in transition” and once again expects a “very intense game.” The reverse fixture in the WWK ARENA ended in a 2-1 defeat, when Jae-sung Lee scored a controversial winner for Mainz from a corner in injury time.

Maaßen also has high praise for fellow manager Bo Svensson: “He has given the team a clear style, they play with force and on the front foot.” Of course, FCA have also worked a lot for the upcoming meeting. “It’s now about getting points consistently week in week out, that’s what we’ve set out to do,” said Maaßen. The first opportunity to do so will be on Saturday at the away match in Mainz, which has been officially declared “Carnival matchday.”