Bundesliga Matchday 6 brings Schalke 04 and Mainz 05 together at the VELTINS Arena on 17 October 2026 and with both clubs sitting in the lower half after five games, this is an early test of who is actually going somewhere this season rather than who just looks good on paper. Schalke, newly promoted from the 2. Bundesliga last season, sit 13th with five points from one win and two draws, whereas Mainz are eighth with seven points having won two of their five matches so far. A win for Schalke would pull them clear of the bottom cluster, Mainz need it to build on 13 goals already scored, a figure that flatters a side with some serious defensive holes.
Schalke come in off a 1-2 defeat at Freiburg on 11 October, their last five producing L-D-W-D-L. Mainz have been chaotic in a way that is almost impressive: a 3-4 loss at Leverkusen, preceded by a 4-3 win over Gladbach, a 1-3 defeat at Frankfurt, a 5-0 demolition of Hamburg and a 0-0 draw with Paderborn. The L-W-L-W-D run is the form line of a team that can hurt you but will also let you score and Henriksen clearly accepts the defensive exposure as the price of that output. Muslić and Henriksen have never faced each other in competitive football, so this is also a first read on how their approaches hold up against each other.
Muslić has Schalke in a compact 3-4-2-1, though he is without Moussa Sylla (leg injury), Emil Højlund (long term, Achilles surgery) and Johannes Siebeking (abdominal issue). Losing three forward options at once is brutal, putting a lot of weight on Edin Džeko to carry things up front and that Džeko leads their scoring charts with two goals tells you something about how thin the options already were.
Mainz travel without Dominik Kohr (ankle) and Robin Zentner, who is a doubt with hand and back problems, while Otto Ruoppi misses out with a knee injury and Silas continues his recovery from a broken shinbone. Losing Kohr in midfield and having the goalkeeper uncertain is not what Henriksen wanted, though his attack remains fully intact and that is where his team does its real damage.
Schalke's game is about staying compact and making life difficult. Satoshi Tanaka runs the midfield and gives Robin Gosens licence to push forward, while Kenan Karaman drops to receive in behind the first press and links play between the lines. Without Sylla and Højlund, though, most of the creative burden falls on Karaman and Džeko and a 37 year old leading the line is not exactly frightening for a Mainz defence already spread thin.
Mainz move quickly through Phillip Tietz and Sheraldo Becker up front, with Nadiem Amiri sitting deeper and using his passing range to connect midfield to the forwards, while Anthony Caci's defensive flexibility gives Henriksen some coverage when Mainz push up and leave space in behind. That commitment has meant conceding freely this season, which is fine when you score four and win but a lot less fine when the goals dry up.
Gosens against Becker on the left flank is the duel to watch but the more consequential battle is Tanaka versus Amiri. If Amiri gets time to turn and pick passes, Mainz's front two get service in behind a thin Schalke forward line. If Tanaka can stop Amiri getting on the ball and playing forward, Schalke stay in it. Džeko's ability to hold the ball up and shield it from Mainz's centre backs will matter more than usual given how little support he has around him.
Schalke haven't lost to Mainz in six Bundesliga meetings, three wins and three draws, with the last coming in 2022/23, though those squads look nothing like the current ones on either side. With Sylla, Højlund and Siebeking all out, Schalke will struggle to score enough to win from a position of control and their defensive cover thins when they push for a goal. Tietz and Becker, with Amiri behind them, should have enough to exploit the space that opens up in the second half. Mainz win 2-1, the decisive moment likely coming from a transition after Schalke push for an equaliser.
Ryan Baldi
Football Writer
Ryan Baldi is a professional football writer with years of experience and has been featured by respected outlets such as the BBC, The Guardian, Sky Sports, DAZN, FourFourTwo, ESPN, Yahoo Sport and Football365. He has also written several books including Arsène Who?.
