With six wins in six games, Bayern Munich are simply unstoppable right now, and surely, no one would fancy taking on die Roten in the form they are currently in. Next up on the menu for Pep Guardiola's side will be Mainz 05 at the Coface Arena, and the hosts will hope that somehow the reigning Bundesliga champions will be already thinking about their Champions League clash with Dinamo Zagreb in a few days' time.
Still, were one to be truly honest, it really will be the Croatian league winners who will be more concerned about the trip to the Allianz Arena. And, despite the decent form Mainz have been in, with the overwhelming past success that Bayern have enjoyed against their upcoming opponents, it looks like Martin Schmidt's squad could be in for a long afternoon.
Mainz
Currently sitting in the middle range of the table with nine points, Mainz have already experienced their share of highs and lows in their 2015/2016 Bundesliga campaign. After losing their first game to Ingolstadt, they rebounded with wins against Borussia Moenchengladbach and Hannover. They then stumbled to a loss to Schalke before rebounding with another victory over Hoffenheim and will be coming into this game having lost to Bayer Leverkusen. Despite losing some key players this summer, with Johannes Geis and Shinji Okazaki both moving on, midfielder Yunus Malli has been quickly establishing himself as one of the faces to watch in the Bundesliga with an impressive five goals - over 50 per cent of his team's total of nine - to his name thus far.
Still, they will face their toughest test as they welcome the league leaders, and will be surely aware that even if they go ahead by one goal - like Wolfsburg learned the hard way - will not be enough to keep Bayern Munich from finding a way back into the match. In terms of available personnel, only Elkin Soto and Fabian Frei will not be fit to feature, meaning that Schmidt will have an otherwise full strength line-up available for selection.
The team's fans will have to hope that Malli and his colleagues have an absolutely perfect day at the office if they want to have any chance at halting die Roten. In their past five meetings across all competitions, Mainz have never beaten Bayern and their last win over the Bavarian giants was back in November 2011, when they powered past them 3-2.
Bayern Munich
He doesn't get all the buzz a certain La Liga duo do, but arguably Robert Lewandowski has shown why he deserves to be called one of the best strikers in world football. The Polish attacker has demonstrated time and time again that his impressive poker to dispatch Real Madrid during the 2012/2013 Champions League was not just a fluke and further highlighted his top-class credentials by putting on a brilliant performance to dismantle Wolfsburg in an entertaining clash between the two sides earlier this week.
There are several players who have netted five in match - Barcelona ace Lionel Messi is one of them, having done so in his rout of Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League - but not many can claim to have done so as a substitute, as Lewandowski did in just nine minutes this past Tuesday. Not surprisingly, the 27-year-old former Dortmund man set several records in the process and having shown that he has recovered from a slight injury, expect Guardiola to unleash him from the start against Mainz today. Should he score, he will also get to celebrate a personal milestone: 100 Bundesliga goals (and counting).
With 18 points in the bag, 20 goals scored and just three conceded, Bayern Munich have equaled the best ever Bundesliga record after six matchdays. And the team that set this? The current league-leaders themselves, back in the 2012/2013 campaign - albeit they had scored 19 at this juncture. Although they have a host of injuries, with experienced wingers Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery, as well as defenders Mehdi Benatia, Holger Badstuber, and Jan Kirchhoff, Guardiola's men are nonetheless still the overwhelming favorites to make it a perfect seven wins out of seven.
Since being defeated by Wolfsburg in the DFL-Supercup, Bayern have won all eight of their matches across all competitions, and with Dortmund stumbling to a draw, will surely enjoy widening the gap at the top of the table by recording what should be a straightforward win later today. With world-class talent like Thomas Muller and exciting prospects including Douglas Costa in their ranks, it will not be just Lewandowski who Mainz will be wary of as they look set to be in for a really tough test at the Coface Arena.
Will Mainz be able to survive a Bayern Munich onslaught? Or will die Roten make it a perfect seven this afternoon?
Make sure you do not miss out on this interesting matchup by bookmarking our special LiveSoccerTV.com Mainz 05 vs. Bayern Munich page for viewing options for your specific location!
Match details, result and original broadcast info
This match has ended. Below are the original Live broadcast details for this match.
Live TV coverage and streaming in United States
Live TV coverage and streaming in United States
Follow the game on-the-go
Download our iOS and Android apps to follow soccer on-the-go. It comes packed with features - live scores, fixtures, results, tables, line-ups, stats, TV schedule and much more! Sorry, no live streaming within the app.
