Mainz 05 vs Samsunspor Prediction: The draw offers value

Mainz 05 and Samsunspor collide at Mewa Arena on Thursday (20:00 GMT, TNT Sports 7) for their final league phase fixture in the Uefa Conference League. Both teams are currently inside the top eight, which would seal automatic qualification to the round of 16, and they will want to keep it that way come full time.

Below you will find my Mainz 05 vs Samsunspor predictions, accompanied by the latest team news and match odds.

Team News

Anthony Caci (hamstring), Maxim Dal (knee), Maxim Leitsch (thigh), Phillipp Mwene and Robin Zentner (both groin) are all absent for Mainz due to injury.

Sota Kawasaki (thigh), Silvan Widmer (calf) and Nadiem Amiri (muscle) have issues of their own but they have outside chances of being available on Thursday, so they will need to be monitored ahead of the game.

Nikolas Veratschnig will have no part to play in this contest following his red card at Lech Poznan last time out. Lee Jae-sung is likely to come in and take his place at left wing-back.

Benedict Hollerbach, Paul Nebel and William Boving should link up in attack for the hosts.

Football Odds

Afonso Sousa (ankle) and Bedirhan Cetin (knee) are out injured for Samsunspor, while Celil Yuksel remains suspended following his involvement in a high-profile betting scandal.

Cherif Ndiaye has joined up with Senegal for the Africa Cup of Nations so Marius Mouandilmadji is expected to feature in attack for the visitors, having netted four goals in five Conference League outings this season.

Today's Football Fixtures

Mainz 05 vs Samsunspor Odds

Mainz have won three of their five league phase matches so far and they are 8/13 to come away with the victory on Thursday.

Each of their past two competitive games have been draws and the stalemate is on offer at 3/1 (implied probability of 25%).

Samsunspor are 4/1 to collect the three points and they too have won three of their five fixtures in the league phase.

Over 2.5 goals has struck in each of the visitors' last four appearances in Europe, and it is marketed at 4/6.

Match Result - Draw @ 3/1

With both teams inside the first eight places in the standings heading into the final round of fixtures, both will likely set themselves up in a bid to avoid defeat rather than go for victory.

But they may have to throw caution to the wind because there is not much to separate them and the teams lower down the table. With home advantage, Mainz will fancy themselves, especially as their Conference League campaign has been more fruitful than the one they are experiencing in the Bundesliga.

However, Samsunspor will be thinking the same thing, particularly as they have lost just one of their last eight away trips in all competitions. Four of those results were draws, so I think there is a chance that we will see these two clubs cancelling each other out.

Mainz have also had to share the spoils in their last two matches heading into this contest.

And with the stalemate priced at 3/1 on this occasion, a draw looks like a sensible and attractive play for Thursday's clash.

Both Teams To Score - Yes @ 4/6

With the fear that comes from thinking that defeat here could see them drop into the two-legged play-offs, both sets of attackers will likely look to spring into action at Mewa Arena.

Given the fact that Samsunspor have scored the joint second-most amount of goals in this competition (10), I have confidence that they will get on the scoresheet here - especially when they have scored 16 in their previous eight away trips.

BTTS - Yes has also struck in five of their past six outings in all competitions and I see this trend continuing in Germany. For Mainz, this has been a successful bet in each of their last two appearances in all competitions.

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