Borussia Dortmund make a treacherous visit to the Mewa Arena on Saturday for their Bundesliga clash against Mainz. While the side has made an encouraging start to the 2025-26 league campaign, Der BVB have struggled at this particular ground lately. But much to their delight, their hosts haven't really pulled up trees in the new season thus far, winning just once from four games to languish in 13th place of the top-flight standings.
Here are some key stats ahead of the match:
1) Dortmund on course to create some unwanted history
Borussia Dortmund have lost in their last two visits to Mewa Arena: 3-0 in May 2024 and 3-1 in November 2024. They've never lost three consecutive away games to Mainz in the Bundesliga. So another slip-up this weekend could mean some unwanted record for the Black and Yellows. However, they haven't lost a single game in all competitions so far this season and their unbeaten record in the Bundesliga stands at 12 games now.
2) Niko Kovac loves facing Mainz
Now talking of the manager's personal record to Mainz, Niko Kovac appears to love his games against the Rhineland outfit: in 13 games against them as the manager, he's won 10 and lost just once. That was back in 2017 when the Croatian was at the helm of Eintracht Frankfurt, which lost 4-2 at the same venue. His first game against the 05ers as the Dortmund manager resulted in a 3-1 victory at the Signal Iduna Park back in March this year.
3) 200 Bundesliga games for Kovac
Kovac is also set to hit a personal milestone this weekend. Saturday's fixture would mark his 200th in Bundesliga, an occasion he'd hope to celebrate with a victory. So far, he's won 89 times from 199 games, while losing 66. In 18 league games with Dortmund, the Croatian has won 12 while losing only four, the last of which came in March 2025 against RB Leipzig (2-0).
4) Mainz's home struggles
While Dortmund are cautious about losing their third consecutive game at the Mewa Arena, turns out the hosts themselves are in a fix right now. Both their league games at the stadium have resulted in a 1-0 defeat: first against Koln and then against RB Leipzig. In fact, the 05ers are winless in their last seven Bundesliga home games - their worst run since September 2020 to January 2021.