Borussia Dortmund boss Niko Kovac is certain Jobe Bellingham will play his way into the starting lineup, having seen his Bundesliga minutes limited so far this season.

Bellingham arrived from Sunderland in a €33m (£27.8m) deal ahead of the Club World Cup and started three of Dortmund's five games in the United States.

However, the midfielder has only started two of BVB's four Bundesliga matches so far this campaign, with Kovac's team starting strongly with 10 points.

Bellingham has only played 153 minutes in the German top flight, the 13th-most in Dortmund's squad this season, and he was limited to substitute appearances in their last two matches – wins over Heidenheim and Wolfsburg.

However, Kovac still believes Bellingham will adapt to his surroundings quicker than most young players.

"Everyone wants to play more," Kovac said, as quoted by Kicker. "Everyone wants to play all the time. But then you can only start 11 players. 

"When you sign a contract here, it's not only well-paid, but it also means there's a hell of a lot of competition.

"Jobe is a very talented player, but he obviously comes from the English second division. He has great potential, but he naturally has to grow into the game here. 

"We can't expect a player to have everything I want down perfectly within two months. It's a process. 

"Young players sometimes need up to six months, but I'm convinced it'll happen faster. It will all come together, we're sure of that."

On Saturday, Dortmund visit a Mainz team that have four points from their first four games, trouncing Augsburg 4-1 for their first victory of the campaign last week despite a red card for defender Dominik Kohr.

And Kovac expects Bo Henriksen's team to pose a difficult challenge, saying: "They have developed very well under him, even if they didn't start this season as they would have liked. 

"They are a very difficult opponent. They have strong running and high pressing. We won the last game against them [3-1 in March] but we didn't blow them away."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Mainz – Paul Nebel 

Nebel has scored three goals in his four Bundesliga games this season, and he also scored Mainz's two most recent goals against Dortmund last campaign.

In fact, Nebel has scored more goals against BVB (two) than he has versus any other team in the Bundesliga.

Borussia Dortmund – Karim Adeyemi

Adeyemi has been directly involved in four of BVB's last six competitive goals, scoring twice and assisting twice, including netting the winner in last week's 1-0 victory over Wolfsburg.

In BVB's most recent Bundesliga meeting with Mainz in March 2025, Adeyemi provided the assist for the opener in a 3-1 triumph.

MATCH PREDICTION – BORUSSIA DORTMUND WIN

Mainz have a good record against Dortmund in recent years, only losing one of their last five Bundesliga matches against them (two wins, two draws).

However, that loss came in their most recent encounter with BVB, going down 3-1 in March. 

Mainz have won their last two Bundesliga home games against Dortmund. Three consecutive Bundesliga home wins against BVB would be a new club record, but the Opta supercomputer makes them outsiders for this one.

Dortmund are unbeaten in 12 Bundesliga matches (10 wins, two draws) – their longest streak since a 17-game run between April and October 2023 (17). 

Since matchday 27 of last season, no other club has collected more points than BVB's 32 (level with Bayern Munich). Dortmund have only lost one of their last 18 competitive matches (13 wins, four draws) – a 2-3 defeat to Real Madrid at the Club World Cup in July.

Dortmund have also kept three consecutive clean sheets in the Bundesliga, following a 3-3 matchday-one draw with St. Pauli. The last time they achieved such a streak within a single season was in October 2020 (four).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Mainz – 31.1% 

Borussia Dortmund – 44%

Draw – 24.9%