Wolfsburg vs. Bayern Munich preview: Can Bayern close out 2023 strong?
Bayern travel to Wolfsburg on Wednesday night for another reunion match with Niko Kovac to wrap up Matchday 16.
| Photo: Steffen Prößdorf, CC BY-SA 4.0 |
Wolfsburg
Despite playing most of the match with only 10 men, Wolfsburg narrowly claimed a huge win over Darmstadt on the weekend. Following a strong start to the season, Wolfsburg have dipped in form leading to questioning of Niko Kovac’s job status.
But, Kovac is hanging on for now and a result against Bayern will go a long way. Cedric Zesiger will likely start from the off in a back three, while Lovro Majer and Jonas Wind are expected to continue up front.
After ending their streak of six away losses in a row, Kovac stated, "Bayern Munich is a bonus game, nobody really expects anything. They are the over-Bayern. We want to see that we get through the last game well, maybe take something with us, and then we have to bundle up again.”
Team News
Amin Sarr, Lukas Nmecha, and Patrick Wimmer are out. Maxence Lacroix will be serving a red-card suspension.
Bayern Munich
Despite only fielding six substitutes, Bayern easily handled Stuttgart on Sunday at home. Harry Kane was scoring goals once again, but the record champions desperately need this break in order to get some key players back from injury.
The makeshift midfield duo of Aleksandar Pavlovic and Raphaël Guerreiro impressed on Matchday 15 and could start yet again. Bayern have secured 2nd place heading into 2024, but must keep winning in order to keep in striking distance of Leverkusen.
Thomas Tuchel said, "Wolfsburg play with different tactics than Stuttgart. We're expecting to come up against another back five. - We'll see what challenges the game brings. We hope we'll be able to find the right solutions for what comes our way."
Team News
Kingsley Coman, Serge Gnabry, Noussair Mazraoui, Bouna Sarr, and Tarek Buchmann are out. Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka are still under the weather and are questionable.