Wolfsburg and Arminia Bielefeld head into battle on Sunday level on points in the 2020-21 Bundesliga table.
Wolfsburg are simultaneously winless and unbeaten having drawn all four matches so far this season, with Arminia's 4-1 defeat to Bayern Munich at the weekend seeing them drop to 14th in the table.
Match preview
© Reuters
The hosts will be desperate to earn their first league win of the season against an Arminia side who are competing in the Bundesliga for the first time since the 2008-09 season after winning the German second tier last season and have made a decent enough start to the campaign.
Despite failing to win once again on Saturday, Oliver Glasner will have been particularly buoyed by his star striker Wout Weghorst scoring his first league goal of the season to earn his side another draw at Borussia Monchengladbach, which in isolation was a good result given how strong Gladbach tend to be at Borussia-Park.
Only Robert Lewandowski, Timo Werner and Jadon Sancho scored more goals than the Dutchman in last season's Bundesliga campaign, so it is vitally important Wolfsburg start creating more chances for him in order to help him get back to his best.
However, they are at least showing excellent resilience in consistently avoiding defeat. Many side's heads would have collectively dropped after Maxence Lacroix's sloppy back-pass led to Jonas Hofmann opening the scoring from the penalty spot in the 78th minute for Gladbach, but they fought back via Weghorst's excellent first time finish seven minutes later.
Die Wolfe also recovered a 1-0 deficit at Freiburg earlier in the season. Having drawn their other two matches 0-0, Glasner will be hoping his side can take the lead for the first time this season against Arminia and subsequently hold out for a crucial victory.
© Reuters
The convincing 4-1 defeat to Bayern was certainly a rude awakening for the Bundesliga new boys, with goalkeeper Stefan Ortega repeatedly playing his side into trouble in the first half with a series of suspect passes out from the back.
Thomas Muller and Lewandowski were also both allowed far too much space on the edge of the area as the Bayern forwards helped themselves to a brace each. However, the game could have proved to be different had club legend Fabian Klos not been denied at point-blank range by Manuel Neuer with the scoreline 2-0 to Bayern.
Uwe Neuhaus would have been proud of his side's courage at 4-0 down as they continued to push for a consolation goal, forcing a red card for a professional foul by Corentin Tolisso late in the game after Ritsu Doan had pulled one back for his side with his first goal for the club. The Japan international, who is on loan from PSV Eindhoven for the season, skilfully jinked to his right before firing into the opposite corner past a helpless Neuer.
Ultimately, though, Die Arminien will be glad to have Bayern out of the way so they can get back to being competitive in matches and keep themselves out of the relegation zone.
Wolfsburg Bundesliga form: DDDD
Wolfsburg form (all competitions): DWDLDD
Arminia Bielefeld Bundesliga form: DWLL
Arminia Bielefeld form (all competitions): LDWLL
Team News
© Reuters
Glasner will be without William and Kevin Mbabu, both of whom have ligament injuries, while Marin Pongracic's virus continues to keep him out of action.
Wolfsburg do at least have the advantage of having free midweeks between league matches after their Europa League playoff defeat to AEK Athens prior to the international break, so the likes of Weghorst and Ahmed Mehmedi should be fresh in attack.
Neuhaus is also missing at least three players from his Arminia first team squad, with Cebio Soukou and Andreas Voglsammer both definitely out with a torn muscle and hairline crack in the foot respectively, and Arne Maier doubtful due to a lack of match fitness.
The 60-year-old will be hoping Klos and Doan continue to build on their exciting partnership in attack, with Sergio Cordova likely to come back into the fold, too.
Klos, who is now in his 10th season at the club after joining from Wolfsburg's reserve team, has scored 132 league goals in the second and third divisions for Arminia. However, he is yet to score at this level, but if he continues to put himself in the right areas it will only be a matter of time until he does.
Wolfsburg possible starting lineup:
Casteels; Baku, Lacroix, Brooks, Roussillon; Schlager, Guilavogui, Arnold; Mehmedi, Weghorst, Brekalo
Arminia Bielefeld possible starting lineup:
Ortega; de Medina, Pieper, Van der Hoorn, Lucoqui; Hartel, Prietl; Cordova, Doan, Gebauer; Klos
We say: Wolfsburg 1-0 Arminia Bielefeld
Wolfsburg may be finding it hard to score goals and record wins this season, but they are also a tough nut to break down having only conceded two goals in four league games.
While Klos will be desperate to prove his former club were wrong not to provide him with a chance in their first team, we suspect Die Wolfe will narrowly find their first win of the league campaign here.
