Mainz v RB Leipzig: Bundesliga – live!

4 min Mainz threaten briefly through Onisiwo, who bursts into the area on the right before being crowded out by Upamecano and Klostermann.

3 min Halstenberg’s cross flashes across the penalty area, just in front of Poulsen. It’s been a good start from Leipzig, who look very confident in possession.

2 min Leipzig are playing a back four, with Marcel Halstenberg at left-back, rather than the 3-1-4-2 formation we expected.

1 min Peep peep! Mainz, in red, kick off from left to right. Leipzig are wearing their navy away strip.

Leipzig could do with a goal or three from Timo Werner today. He’s scored 21 league goals this season – but 18 of them came before Christmas.

In the early game, Augsburg are on course for a terrific win at Schalke: they lead 2-0 with 10 minutes remaining.

Mainz (3-4-2-1) Muller; St. Juste, Bruma, Niakhate; Baku, Kunde, Fernandes, Martin; Boetius, Quaison; Onisiwo.
Substitutes Dahmen, Latza, Oztunali, Mateta, Ji, Brosinski, Awoniyi, Barreiro, Hack.

Leipzig (3-1-4-2) Gulacsi; Klostermann, Upamecano, Halstenberg; Laimer; Sabitzer, Kampl, Nkunku, Olmo; Werner, Poulsen.
Substitutes Mvogo, Angelino, Orban, Haidara, Adams, Lookman, Wolf, Schick, Mukiele.

Hello. At the end of January, RB Leipzig were top of the table, dreaming of winning the Bundesliga for the first time in their short history. They are unbeaten since then, yet they’ve dropped down to fifth in the table. Leipzig are a case study in the dangers of the draw, with five in their last seven games.

It looks like a typical example of an outsider title challenge fading away, but that’s not necessarily the case. All five draws were against teams in the top seven, including an excellent away point at Bayern Munich, so Leipzig’s form is not as bad as it seems. It also means they have a really favourable run-in.

A win today against Mainz – who they walloped 8-0 in the return fixture in November – would move them back up to third, seven points behind the leaders Bayern Munich. That’s a big gap with only seven games to play and Bayern in such blistering form. But Bayern have some tough games to come, including trips to Dortmund, Leverkusen and Wolfsburg.

Leipzig aren’t out of the title race yet. But they might be in a couple of hours’ time. This is a must-must-must-win game.

Kick off 2.30pm BST, 3.30pm CET.