Wolfsburg vs Borussia Dortmund. Prediction and Preview. Probable Lineups, Team News, Stats and more

VfL Wolfsburg will host Borussia Dortmund in the 14th-tour Bundesliga match at the Volkswagen Arena. The fixture will take place on November 8, beginning at 23:00 IST.

After finding some stability in the course of the season, Wolfsburg are set to take on in-form Borussia, who have returned to the top four and are looking to seize the opportunity to close the gap from the first place. Will the Wolves manage to challenge their opponents this Tuesday night? Alternatively, will the Bumblebees easily fetch three points to extend their victorious march?

Parimatchnews will tell you everything you need to know ahead of the upcoming match.

Wolfsburg News & Current Form: 

After a very frustrating start to the season – with no victories in the first five rounds – Niko Kovac’s lads are slowly coming to their senses. The last time the Wolves lost was in mid-September (0-2 in Berlin at the hands of Union), and now, after the international break, they are enjoying a six-match unbeaten run in the Bundesliga. What’s more – the White and Greens can boast reaching 1/8 finals of the German Cup.

Talking about recent form, on 1 October, Wolfsburg managed the heroic extra-time win over VfB Stuttgart (3-2), which was followed by the pragmatic draws with Augsburg (1-1) and Borussia Gladbach (2-2). This was followed by a cup victory in Braunschweig and another productive draw in the German championship, 2-2 against Bayer 04 in Leverkusen.

Such a proliferation of draws has had little effect on their progression to the top of the table, however, the performance and results of Niko’s men have been getting better and more consistent. 

October ended with a brilliant 4-0 home win over VfL Bochum 1848, and the new month started with a rather successful 3-0 away win over the now potent 1. FSV Mainz 05. Patrick Wimmer opened the scoring, with Wolfsburg’s captain Maximilian Arnold doubling their lead midway through the second half, and then Ridle Baku put the game into bed which added valuable 3 points to the account of Niko Kovac’s side. Thanks to this win, Wolves caught up with FC Köln, climbing to 11th place, whilst Die Weißgrünen also reduced their gap to Mainz and Hoffenheim to a minimum.

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Borussia Dortmund News & Current Form: 

Although the injury crisis is still an issue (7 players are unavailable), Borussia are doing quite nicely this season: the team managed to comfortably qualify for the UEFA Champions League play-offs, finishing second in the Group G. Now, the Bumblebees await the European spring, where they will face Chelsea FC in the ⅛ finals. 

As for the national league, BVB are managing to keep up with the leading group of teams, retaining their hopes of clinching the title. The Black-Yellows are now fourth in the Bundesliga with 25 points after 13 rounds, just three points behind leading FC Bayern Munich. 

Within three games in early October, the Yellow-Blacks lost away twice in a row, 2-3 to FC Köln and 0-2 to Berlin Union, while in between the defeats they heroically survived in Der Klassiker against Bayern at their home ground Signal Iduna Park – a 2-2 comeback with Anthony Modeste’s game-saving goal in the final seconds of added time.

Since the defeat in Berlin, Borussia remain unbeaten. The form has improved considerably and the Bumblebees are now on a streak of 3 straight wins. This run started with a 5-0 home defeat of Stuttgart. A week later, Edin Terzic’s side secured a vital win in Frankfurt am Main over a fairly strong Eintracht side 2-1 (the winning goal coming from the talented Jude Bellingham). Last weekend, the Yellow-Blacks produced a confident 3-0 home win over Bochum in the derby. All three goals were scored in the first half. Youssoufa Moukoko registered the first and third goals, with another youngster Giovanni Reyna capitalizing on a penalty in between goals of 17-year-old prospect.

The Cameroonian striker’s form is particularly noteworthy as Terzic entrusts him a place in the starting line-up with increasing frequency, having become disillusioned about the ability of 34-year-old ex-Koln Anthony Modeste to finish off attacks. The 17-year-old African became the youngest player in the history of the German championships to reach the 10-goal mark. In total, Moukoko has tallied 6 goals and 4 assists in 12 games played this season so far. A stunning performance and a real salvation for Dortmund, previously experiencing a frustrating crisis in this position.

The Bumblebees are still frequently taking shots on target and controlling the ball a lot. At the same time, under Terzic at least some stability has begun to emerge – Dortmund are not running headlong into the front, trying to act more strictly at the back. The statistics confirm this: in the world’s most attacking league, BVB conceded just 15 goals in 13 games (4th best result in the Bundesliga). At the same time, the goal difference is 8 goals – only the Bavarians are better. 

There is also a lot to be said for the mental side of the team. Particularly reflective of the inner strength of spirit was the match against the German Machine, where the Bumblebees made a heroic comeback from 0-2. In Germany, people are counting on this version of Borussia to break the hegemony of the stagnating Munich side. And for that to happen, they need to go one step further – to take three points against Wolves.

Wolfsburg form guide: D-D-W-D-W-W 

Borussia Dortmund form guide: W-W-D-W-D-W

Wolfsburg vs Borussia Dortmund Head-To-Head Record: 

The last time Wolfsburg beat Dortmund was back in May 2015. In the next 14 head-to-head encounters, Borussia have won 13 and only once allowed themselves a draw against Wolves (0-0 at Dortmund in January 2018).

Wolfsburg vs Borussia Dortmund Predicted XI:

Wolfsburg possible starting lineup (4-5-1): Casteels; Baku, Bornauw, Van de Ven, Otavio; Wimmer, F. Nmecha, Arnold, Gerhardt, Kaminski; L. Nmecha.

Borussia Dortmund possible starting lineup (4-2-3-1): Kobel; Sule, Hummels, Schlotterbeck, Guerreiro; Bellingham, Can; Adeyemi, Brandt, Reyna; Moukoko.

Statistical preview of the match Wolfsburg vs Borussia Dortmund:

• Kovac has only won three of nine games against Dortmund as a coach, losing five and drawing one.
• Wolfsburg are on a six-game unbeaten run in the Bundesliga, winning three and drawing three.
• Wolfsburg have scored over 1.5 goals in 8 of the last 9 Bundesliga home games.
• Wolfsburg have conceded in 23 of the last 24 Bundesliga games against Borussia Dortmund. 
• BVB are on a three-game winning sequence in the Bundesliga for the first time this season.
• BVB are unbeaten in 9 of the last 10 games.
• BVB have scored in 39 of the last 41 Bundesliga games.
• BVB have scored less than 2.5 goals in each of their last 5 Bundesliga away games.
• Wolfsburg average 5.47 corners per game, while Borussia Dortmund see almost the same number of corner kicks per 90 minutes – 5.35. 
• The hosts commit an average of 10.93 fouls per game while the visitors average 9.21 per 90 minutes.

What has been said before the match:

Niko Kovac, the Wolfsburg gaffer:

 “A very strong team is coming to Wolfsburg tomorrow. BVB deserve to be at the top. They’re a side with lofty ambitions; a young squad with a lot of experience too. This is a new challenge for us. We’ll give everything we have to hold our own. Our upward trajectory gives us hope and belief that we can match them.”  

“We have to perform as a unit, as we’ve done in recent weeks. We’re attacking together but also defending well together. We want to stop Dortmund from playing to their strengths, which they have in abundance. We must also show our qualities because we’ll have our own opportunities with the ball.”

Edin Terzic, the Borussia Dortmund gaffer:

“Today, things didn’t look quite as bad for Wolfsburg. They did not have an easy start to the season; they didn’t win any of their first five games. But they’ve really found their feet. There’s little rotation in their starting XI. They are the team that makes the most sprints in the league and try to get into the opposition half at speed. We want to break them down by continuing to do things well that have recently brought us success.” 

“I expect an attack-minded game from both sides with intense challenges all over the pitch. We’re ready and we want to come home with three points.” 

Wolfsburg vs Borussia Dortmund Prediction:

The hosts remain in the middle of the table and cherish their hopes of making it to the Eurocup zone. The visitors are fourth and so far the title race is alive for them. Wolfsburg are clearly dreaming of getting revenge for their past defeats at home against Borussia and will be very determined, considering the good quality of their football in recent times. However, the Bumblebees look extremely solid right now and are unlikely to be too cautious, having a very strong attacking line and a desire to take maximum points before they go into the winter break. 

Both teams are sympathetic to the attacking style of play (they have already scored 43 goals together), and between them, they should definitely not deviate from their usual pattern. Thanks to this, the game should be played on the counter courses and be entertaining not only thanks to dangerous moments, but also in terms of goals. In the two previous meetings, the total between the opponents was over 3.5 goals. 

Despite the Wolves’ 6-game unbeaten run, we believe that it is the visitors who look more favourable to be the winner of the pair. Borussia steadily avoid mistakes in defense, are very well prepared physically and almost always create a lot of chances at the opponents’ goal. And the Dortmund side are clearly superior in class, which speaks in favour of the victory for the visiting side.

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Parimatch News staff prediction:

We say: Borussia Dortmund to win and the match total over 2.5 – Yes.