Wolfsburg vs Borussia Dortmund
Midweek Bundesliga action gets underway at the Volkswagen Arena as mid-table Wolfsburg and title hopefuls Borussia Dortmund lock horns in a blockbuster encounter.
Following an underwhelming seven-game Bundesliga start (W1, D2, L4), Wolfsburg have hit the ground running, stringing together a six-match unbeaten league streak (W3, D3). A brace of multi-goal margin wins of Mainz and Bochum in the build-up to this fixture has helped ‘Die Wolfe’ not just win back-to-back top-flight games for the first time since February but reignite their top-six pursuit. With sixth-placed RB Leipzig only six points off, Wolfsburg’s bid to qualify for major European competitions after a season-long absence from continental football is up and running. However, Dortmund’s visit threatens to throw a spanner in the works, with Wolfsburg losing each of their last seven Bundesliga H2Hs at home.
On the other hand, Borussia Dortmund swept bottom-half strugglers Bochum aside with an overwhelming 3-0 home win at the weekend, extending their winning league run to three games. With top-placed Bayern Munich just three points away, Dortmund’s bid to lift their first Bundesliga crown since 2011/12 is still on, but they’ll need to consolidate their see-saw away form to stay in the title picture. Edin Terzic’s side pulled off a 2-1 win at Eintracht Frankfurt on their most recent league travel to arrest an embarrassing three-game losing top-flight streak outside Signal Iduna Park. But you don’t have to look beyond the fact only 36% of Dortmund’s total Bundesliga points this season have arrived on the road (9/25) to understand their form woes away from home.