Europe-chasing Mainz 05 aim to reel in Stuttgart in the battle for the Champions League spots in Saturday's Bundesliga clash at Mewa Arena.

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Mainz's performances and results heading into 2025 suggested the 05ers could compete for Champions League qualification, but consecutive top-flight losses have seen Henriksen's men fall to sixth.

Despite defeats at the hands of Bayer Leverkusen and Union Berlin, the Carnival Club remain four points adrift of this weekend's visitors, and success for the hosts could cut that gap to one point.

With both losses coming on the road, the home support will take encouragement from their side's results at Mewa Arena, where they have clinched success over Borussia Dortmund (3-1), Hoffenheim (2-0), Bayern Munich (2-1) and VfL Bochum (2-0) as they seek a fifth victory on the trot at Stuttgart's expense.

However, a nine-match run without defeating Saturday's opponents is portending for the 05ers, who aim to avoid falling to a third top-flight reverse for the first time since September 2023 — when Bo Svensson was head coach.

While returning to winning ways could see Mainz move to within a point of their fourth-placed opponents, Henriksen's men will be aware of the possibility of sliding down the standings, with Wolfsburg and Freiburg a point behind the 05ers and Werder Bremen two adrift.

Stuttgart, keen to continue their impressive results since the turn of the year, look to clinch a fourth consecutive Bundesliga triumph and fifth overall after Tuesday's 3-1 Champions League success at Slovan Bratislava.

Recent history stands Sebastian Hoeness's men in good stead, with Die Roten undefeated in this fixture since January 2019 — a 3-2 home defeat against Mainz.

Since that loss, the Reds have secured six victories in the subsequent nine, although they were held to a 3-3 draw in the reverse fixture despite leading 2-0 and 3-2.

That gameweek two encounter formed part of the away side's below-par start to the 2024-25 campaign, but Hoeness's team have since responded, as evidenced by their current standing and notching five victories in their last six Bundesliga outings.

Only defending champions, Bayer Leverkusen, have outdone Stuttgart's 15 points in that period, underscoring the confidence in the away side's camp before travelling to Mewa Arena this weekend.

Success for the Swabians would be the club's third consecutive away victory after victories at Hoffenheim (3-1) and Augsburg (1-0), and the fourth-placed outfit on 32 points hope to notch maximum points to prevent Leipzig in fifth, a point behind, from leapfrogging them in the standings.

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