Besiktas vs Mainz

Besiktas and Mainz 05 are set to trade tackles at the Kufstein-Arena in their first off-season encounter since 2014.

After coming from behind to beat Werder Bremen 2-1 in their opening pre-season friendly, Besiktas shared the spoils with Viktoria Plzen in an uneventful ‘nil-nil’ draw last time out. That stalemate maintained the Turkish side’s problems with inconsistent performances that have seen them alternate between winning (3) and drawing (3) across their last six outings. Only two of those six matches featured over 2.5 goals, highlighting the potential for a cagey, low-scoring affair. But Besiktas’ only previous meeting with Mainz yielded a 1-1 scoreline, suggesting back-and-forth action could be on the cards, nonetheless. Impressively, though, Valerin Ismael’s men have lost just one of their last 11 match-ups outside their famous Vodafone Park (W4, D6).

In the meantime, Mainz strolled past German lower-league side Worl in their maiden off-season fixture (4-0), extending their unbeaten streak to four matches (W3, D1), last season included. Additionally, Bo Svensson’s men racked up 2+ goals in all four outings, underlining their proficiency in front of goal. However, before beating Hertha BSC 2-1 in their final away game of the 2021/22 season, ‘Die Nullfünfer’ had gone winless in their 12 previous fixtures on hostile turf (D2, L10), failing to score more than once 11 times in the process.