Wolfsburg vs Borussia Dortmund
Volkswagen Arena is the venue as Wolfsburg and Borussia Dortmund go head-to-head in a Bundesliga top-six six-pointer.
Wolfsburg’s return to Bundesliga form has coincided with the appointment of new manager Florian Kohfeldt, who has navigated his side a three-game unbeaten league streak (W2, D1) since taking charge in October. That’s a significant turnaround from their five-match winless Bundesliga run (D1, L4) down the final stretch of the now ex-manager Mark van Bommel’s reign. However, to keep their form curve on the upwards trajectory, Wolfsburg will have to win against a Dortmund side they’ve failed to defeat across their last 12 Bundesliga H2Hs (D1, L12). Alarmingly, ‘Die Wolfe’ have drawn a blank in nine consecutive top-flight meetings with this opposition en route to setting an unwanted Bundesliga record. Against this backdrop, they’ve found the net in seven of their eight competitive home outings this term.
On the other hand, an underwhelming 3-1 away loss to Sporting Lisbon in midweek officially ended Borussia Dortmund’s hopes of reaching the Champions League knock-out stages. Coming back to domestic affairs, ‘Die Borussen’ take the field as the only Bundesliga side yet to draw a league match this season (W9, L3). A lack of consistency on the road has seen Dortmund alternate between winning (2) and losing (3) across their five Bundesliga travels under Marco Rose so far, with four of those five games seeing the winner on the day fail to keep a clean sheet. But the visitors will be looking to establish some consistency when they take on a side they’ve defeated in their last six top-flight away H2Hs, setting a club record for consecutive away wins against a single opposition in the competition. Worryingly, though, only 30% of Dortmund’s Bundesliga goals scored this season have arrived away from home (9/30).