A thoroughly entertaining encounter at the Opel Arena ends 1-1. Mainz were the better side - with 16 shots to seven, and almost 60 per cent of possession - but Hertha did enough to earn a point through Lucas Tousart's first goal for the club. The headlines will go to Phillipp Mwene, who scored an absolute screamer to open his Bundesliga account and edge the 05ers closer to survival. Head back to the homepage to enjoy our match report, and thanks very much for tuning in! We'll be back on Thursday evening with coverage of Hertha's next rescheduled game, at home to Freiburg. Tschüss!

Late winner?

After a high-tempo first half the players just seem to be catching their breath. Here come Hertha, though, with Mittelstädt's rising cross forcing Zentner into conceding a corner. In it comes and the Mainz keeper eventually gathers.

We're back underway in Mainz.

What a superb first half at the Opel Arena, those 45 minutes absolutely flew by. On balance Hertha will probably be the happier side, because Mainz dominated and could easily have been out of sight if they had taken more of their chances. More of the same after the break please!

Hertha players may be leading the top speed stats (see below), but Pal Dardai's side are being given the runaround by Mainz. The men in red are dictating the tempo and creating the better chances - all they need is a goal to consolidate their dominance.

Hertha get the ball rolling in Mainz. It's their first game since 10 April!

Kick-off is just a few moments away at the Opel Arena!

It's been an unusual few weeks for Hertha coach Pal Dardai, who will no doubt be relieved to finally get back to footballing matters this evening. "I'm happy with how we're looking and the boys are in good shape," he said in his pre-game press conference. "Now we have to make sure we play intelligently and with a clear head. If we can get at least four points from these three outstanding games, then we won't be in a relegation spot any longer. After that, we just have to see how many points we need from our final three games. Every game is a final for us now."

Mainz could make it 19 points from a possible 21 in the Bundesliga tonight, but Svensson is taking nothing for granted against Hertha, who will be hungry to perform after their Covid-19-enforced hiatus. "You can imagine, from a human perspective, what it's like to sit at home for a fortnight," the Dane said. "We expect Hertha to come here full of beans, which won't make our task any easier. I expect an intense game with a lot of emotion and passion. A close game in which we have to put in a very good performance defensively."

The visitors look like they want to protect their defence tonight, with Pal Dardai deploying Lucas Tousart, Sami Khedira and Matteo Guendouzi - all midfielders of a defensive persuasion - in either a 3-5-2 or a 3-3-2-2. Deyovaisio Zeefuik and Maximilian Mittelstädt will be trying to add attacking thrust from out wide, with Jhon Cordoba and Matheus Cunha the dangermen up top.

Svensson has decided to start with Karim Onisiwo and Adam Szalai up front, which is a little surprising - given that Jonathan Burkardt and Robin Quaison were both on target against Bayern last time out. Admittedly, Burkardt suffered a blow to the head against the record champions and had to go off at half-time. He begins on the bench, alongside four-goal top scorer Quaison.

Körber, Pekarik, Darida, Piatek, Alderete, Ascacibar, Boyata, Radonjic, Torunarigha

Schwolow - Klünter, Stark (c), M. Dardai - Zeefuik, Tousart, Khedira, Guendouzi, Mittelstädt - Cunha - Cordoba

Dahmen, Brosinski, Hack, Latza, Öztunali, Stöger, Quaison, Burkardt, Glatzel

Zentner - St. Juste, Bell, Niakhate (c) - da Costa, Barreiro, Kohr, Mwene - Boetius - Szalai, Onisiwo

The 05ers were very much in the thick of the relegation scrap a few weeks ago, but a run of three straight wins has put them on the verge of securing their Bundesliga status for another season. Bo Svensson's men came out on top of six-pointers with fellow strugglers Cologne and Werder Bremen, and then made headlines by beating leaders Bayern Munich, who were forced to put their title celebrations on hold for at least a fortnight. Mainz currently sit 12th, five points above the relegation play-off place, so another win tonight should see them home and dry.

Welcome to our live text coverage of a crunch relegation encounter - certainly as far as Hertha Berlin are concerned! The Old Lady have been out of action for over three weeks due to a Covid-19 outbreak, which led to the postponement of their games against Mainz, Freiburg and Schalke. During their period of self-isolation tonight's visitors slipped to 17th in the table, and are about to embark on a marathon run-in of six games in the space of just 20 days. Suffice it to say, they're very much in need of a win at the Opel Arena.

Here you will find the most important information on the game between 1. FSV Mainz 05 and Hertha Berlin on Matchday 29 of the 2020/21 Bundesliga season.