Wolfsburg vs. Köln preview: Schultz targeting first victory
After taking a point from his opening two games in charge, Timo Schultz will look to claim his first victory as Köln boss when his side face Wolfsburg on Saturday.
Wolfsburg
Wolfsburg have experienced an underwhelming start to 2024, having played out consecutive away draws with Mainz and Heidenheim. After giving up a slender lead to draw 1-1 with Mainz, die Wölfe experienced another frustrating contest last weekend. Václav Černý opened the scoring in the seventh minute to get Wolfsburg off to the perfect start against Heidenheim. However, a Moritz Jenz own goal ensured they went into half time on level terms. With Wolfsburg unable to find a winner in the second period, they had to settle for a share of the spoils.
Having won just two of their last 12 league matches, Niko Kovac’s side currently sit in 11th position. If they are to have any hope of closing the seven-point gap to the top six, they need to offer a greater in the final third. They have failed to score more than one goal in any of their last six Bundesliga games, while they have scored just 22 times in the top flight this season – only four teams have registered fewer goals.
They can take confidence from the fact they enjoyed a successful outing in their most recent meeting with Köln in August. On that occasion, Wolfsburg fought back from a goal down to win 2-1 thanks to a Jonas Wind brace.
Team News
Wolfsburg are unable to call upon Patrick Wimmer, Ridle Baku, Lovro Majer, Lukas Nmecha and Tiago Tomas.
Köln
Having won two, drawn five and lost 11 of their 18 league matches, Köln are currently languishing in 17th place with three points separating them from safety. In their most recent outing, die Geißböcke fell to a heavy 4-0 defeat to Borussia Dortmund in Schultz’s second game in charge.
Köln will be looking for a response this weekend, as they try to end a five-game winless run (D2, L3). After failing to score in four of those five matches, Köln will know they need to improve in the final third if they are to claim their first victory since December 1.
While their current form may be a cause for concern, die Geißböcke have claimed victories in their last two away meetings with Wolfsburg, including a 4-2 victory in their most recent trip to the Volkswagen Arena in September 2022.
Team News
Davie Selke, Mark Uth and Luca Waldschmidt will miss out through injury, while Florian Kainz is a doubt due to injury.