Köln vs. Wolfsburg preview: The Billy Goats return home
Wolfsburg travel to the RheinEnergieStadion to face Köln, who are looking to bounce back after a loss to Dortmund on Matchday 1.
Köln
Köln couldn’t get anything going offensively a week ago and many pundits predict this could be a long season for the club. But, a Steffen Baumgart side will never back down and they have an excellent chance to get a result on Saturday.
Winger Luca Waldschmidt will face the club that loaned him out this summer and striker Davie Selke is available once again. All four attackers were substituted the last time out as Baumgart will likely trust his starting defenders again for the full 90 minutes.
In a press conference, their trainer commented, “I want to get away from the fact we played well in Dortmund. We did, but we also lost the game. There are possibilities to change things, whether we play with one or two defensive midfielders. We need to find the right balance.”
Team News
Selke is good to go, but Mark Uth and Jan Thielmann are out for the Billy Goats.
Wolfsburg
Striker Jonas Wind had two first-half goals to give the green company club three points against Heidenheim last week. He’ll likely need some more help this time around against a scrappy Köln side.
Four of Wolfsburg’s summer signings started on Matchday 1 and Niko Kovac is expected to do the same on Saturday. They look to have recovered from the loss of Micky van de Ven with a completely new center-left defense of Zesiger, Maehle, and Majer.
When asked about injured captain Maximilian Arnold, Kovac stated, “We will look at the training sessions and then decide. - Everyone knows how important he is. But every individual has to perform, which is crucial to be on the pitch at the weekend."
Team News
Lukas Nmecha, Kilian Fischer, and Felix Lange are out, while Lukas Ambros is probable. Arnold is questionable after only returning to training on Thursday.