VfL Wolfsburg vs. Eintracht Frankfurt preview: Wounded hosts target big win against favorite opponents
| Alex Grimm/Getty Images |
After squandering a two-goal lead in Leverkusen, Wolfsburg will hope to end their winless streak at home against Eintracht Frankfurt. Albert Riera is yet to win a game away from home since becoming a permanent replacement for Dino Toppmöller.
VfL Wolfsburg
Meanwhile, Dieter Hecking is looking for his first win in his second spell at Wolfsburg. Last week’s 6-3 defeat extended the dry spell for the 2008/09 champions to eleven games, which started in mid-January.
The 60-year-old has been in charge for the past three games as the inspiring draw with Hoffenheim was followed by defeats to Werder Bremen and Leverkusen. While Wolfsburg only lost once in their previous nine meetings with Frankfurt, Hecking has a poor record in his 28 encounters against the Eagles.
Team News
Konstantinos Koulierakis has joined Wolfsburg’s long list of absentees after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season in the rollercoaster defeat to Leverkusen. Jonas Wind and Mattias Svanberg played part in that game, but they will also be absent due to injuries.
Eintracht Frankfurt
Frankfurt went two games winless for the first time since Riera’s arrival with the defeat in Mainz followed by a disappointing draw with Köln. A similar pattern from both games was conceding late goals.
They are also winless away from home since the reverse fixture against Köln back in November. Only three of Frankfurt’s ten wins came on their travels as the distance with sixth-placed Leverkusen keeps growing by every week.
Team News
Ritsu Doan will most likely miss Saturday’s game due to illness, while it remains to be seen whether Jean-Mattéo Bahoya recovers from a hamstring injury that ruled him out of last weekend’s game.
Predicted Lineups
Wolfsburg: Grabara; Jenz, Vavro, Belocian; Maehle, Eriksen ©, Vinicius Souza, Zehnter; Wimmer, Shiogai; Amoura
Frankfurt: Zetterer; Amenda, Koch ©, Theate, Brown; Larsson, Höjlund; Knauff, Chaibi, Kalimuendo; Burkardt
