German Bundesliga - Wolfsburg vs. Borussia Dortmund - Preview & Prediction
Unbeaten in seven straight Bundesliga games, 6th-placed Wolfsburg will try to end its horrid form against 2nd-placed Borussia Dortmund when hosting BVB on Matchday 27. Kick-off - at 9:30 AM ET on Saturday, May 23.
Wolfsburg Snatch Win In Augsburg
An away fixture resulted in a 2-1 win for Wolfsburg, who returned back to the Bundesliga action with a road victory versus Augsburg at WWK Arena on Saturday. Right-winger Renato Steffen gave the visitors a 1-0 lead just before the break, with substitute Daniel Ginczek canceling out Augsburg’s second-half equalizer with a dramatic injury-time strike. The Wolves, who had drawn their previous two contests ahead of Saturday, have now extended their point streak to seven league matches (W4 D3). They are 6th in the standings with a W10 D9 L7 record, trailing the Top 5 by 11 points.
Dutchman Wout Weghorst, who was Wolfsburg’s 17-goal top scorer last year missed Saturday’s clash due to suspension, but is expected back in the lineup against Borussia Dortmund, currently leading his team with 11 markers this season. He has neither scored nor won versus BVB in three previous meetings. Goalie Koen Casteels, meanwhile, sits 15th in the league in most saves made (57). He has picked up four clean sheets in 18 appearances this year, allowing a goal every 70 minutes on average. Wolfsburg is 9th in most goals scored (36), 5th in shots taken (14 per game), 8th in ball possession (49.5%), and 14th in passing accuracy (75.8%).
Dortmund Impress Against Schalke
The first game back from the coronavirus break gave a convincing victory for Borussia Dortmund, who banked a 4-0 win against Schalke 04 in their Revierderby at Signal Iduna Park on Saturday. 19-year-old Norwegian wunderkind Erling Haaland kicked things off with his 10th strike in nine Bundesliga contests (6 starts) since moving to Dortmund from RB Salzburg in January. Raphael Guerreiro netted twice, while Thorgan Hazard buried his sixth snipe of the season. BVB have now triumphed in their last five outings, sitting 2nd in the league (W16 D6 L4), chasing leaders Bayern Munich by four points, two points ahead of the 3rd-placed Borussia Monchengladbach.
Borussia Dortmund is the only Bundesliga team this season to have three players on double figures for goals, with Jadon Sancho (14 strikes), Marco Reus (11), and Haaland (10) all having impressed. Goalie Roman Burki, meanwhile, figures in the 19th position in the league in most shots saved (42), with nine clean sheets recorded in 23 appearances. He gives up a goal every 64 minutes. BVB have scored the 2nd highest amount of goals this year (72), while sitting 6th in most shots taken (13.7 per game). The team is 3rd in ball possession (58.4%) and 2nd in passing accuracy (86.6%).
Prediction
Borussia Dortmund truly impressed in their last weekend’s 4-0 Revierderby rout versus Schalke 04 and are expected to be even deadlier when paying a visit to Wolfsburg, with influential winger Jadon Sancho (14 goals, 15 assists in the Bundesliga this year) finally fit enough to start following a minor groin problem. BVB have dominated this series lately, going W8 D1 against the Wolves in their past nine contests, keeping Wolfsburg off the scoreboard in the very last six meetings, outscoring the team from Lower Saxony with a combined score of 12-0. The Wolves have been allowing no more than just one strike in their home games this season on average, though, so don’t expect Dortmund to have a particularly easy ride…
Best Bets:
Borussia Dortmund to win (-125)
Correct score: 2-0 to Dortmund (+600)
Erling Haaland to score anytime (-120)
Jadon Sancho to score anytime (+145)