VfL Wolfsburg vs. SV Werder Bremen preview: Six-pointer in the bottom four

VFL WOLFSBURG

With eight matches remaining in the 2025/26 season, Dieter Hecking and VfL Wolfsburg (5-6-15, 17th) look to pick up their second victory in the 2026 calendar year, and the first under the second managerial reign of the 61-year-old from Castrop-Rauxel, Nordrhein-Westfalen. That is what Hecking was hired to do when he replaced Daniel Bauer behind the bench, after all - pick up the necessary victories in the final weeks of the season to avoid the relegation zone.

This is Hecking’s second match, and his first at Volkswagen Arena in particular since the 2016/17 season. His second spell debut was one where Wolfsburg played a 3-3-2-2 and went very defensive against a third-place TSG 1899 Hoffenheim side, but managed to take the lead on a Konstantinos Koulierakis header from a Christian Eriksen corner delivery - before conceding in the final ten minutes and holding out for a 1-1 draw.

At the current moment, Die Wölfe are in a direct relegation spot with 21 points on the season and a -21 goal difference (35-56). The team in the relegation playoff spot, FC St. Pauli, have 24 points with a -19 goal difference (23-42). That said, if St. Pauli lose to a high-flying SC Freiburg side coming off a UEFA Europa League thrashing of KRC Genk, and Wolfsburg win their match, then the two teams are tied on points - Wolfsburg would lead on goal difference, and they would be one point away from safety as SV Werder Bremen are the side in fifteenth with 25 points.

Team News:

Wolfsburg have a long list of injuries, with a total of eight players absent - but in a rare situation, that is less than their opponents. Swedish defensive/attacking midfielder Mattias Svanberg (muscle) and German defensive midfielder/central midfielder Maximilian Arnold (groin) are both considered doubtful to play this weekend, but could return after the international break.

The list of injuries to the end of the month all impact the back line: German centre-back/right-back Kilian Fischer (thigh), Brazilian defender Rogério (fitness), Brazilian defender Cleiton Santos (ankle), and Dutch centre-back Jenson Seelt (knee) are projected to return to training until late March.

American right midfielder Kevin Paredes (muscle) is expected to return sometime in April. Hungarian central midfielder/defensive midfielder Bence Dárdai (cruciate ligament) will be absent until the start of the 2026/27 preseason.

Projected XI (3-4-2-1): Grabara - Koulierakis, Jenz, Belocian - Mæhle, Souza, Eriksen, Kumbedi - Amoura, Lindstrøm - Wind.

SV WERDER BREMEN

One point safe from the relegation playoff and four points ahead of Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga table, SV Werder Bremen (6-7-13, 15th) will look to get their third win from their last four matches when they visit the Volkswagen Arena on Saturday afternoon.

Daniel Thioune’s side are slowly working their way back up the league table after winning two matches in a row in early March, snapping a 13-match winless streak dating back to early November - which was, coincidentally, the last time they faced Wolfsburg at Weserstadion. Wins against teams like Wolfsburg will be crucial for them - especially since they will face three of the current Bundesliga top five in the remaining matches: RB Leipzig (4 April), VfB Stuttgart (approx. 25 April), and Borussia Dortmund on the final day (16 May).

The results in recent years have been split between the two sides, with the last eight matches showing an even 3-2-3 record. However, Werder have won the only meeting this season, in what would ultimately be Paul Simonis’ final match as Wolfsburg coach - and they did it by scoring twice in the final ten minutes, courtesy of Jens Stage and Samuel Mbangula. Werder led the majority of the statistical categories in that match as well: 20-7 shots, 7-4 shots on target, and 60% possession, with an 87% pass accuracy (490/566) compared to a 79% pass accuracy from Wolfsburg (318/405).

Team News:

Like Wolfsburg, Werder’s bottom-half season has also been plagued by injuries - with a total of nine at this point of the year. German centre-back Niklas Stark (muscle) has been out for only a week, but his timetable for a return is unknown at the moment.

German centre-back Amos Pieper (knee), German right midfielder/right-back Mitchell Weiser (cruciate ligament), and Austrian defender Maximilian Wöber (calf) will all be absent for at least another week and could return to training at the start of April. Estonian goalkeeper Karl Jakob Hein (hand) and Belgian defensive midfielder Senne Lynen (groin) are both absent until the second week of April at the earliest; both have reportedly picked up injuries in the last week. Serbian striker Jovan Milošević (back) will also be absent until the second week of April, but he picked up his injury in late February.

Nigerian striker Victor Boniface (knee) is confirmed to be out until at least Matchday 34, and Argentine centre-back Julián Malatini (ankle) will not return until the 2026/27 preseason campaign.

Danish central midfielder Jens Stage is suspended for this match after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season in a 0-2 defeat to 1. FSV Mainz 05 last weekend.

Projected XI (4-3-3): Backhaus - Deman, Coulibaly, Friedl, Sugawara - Schmid, Bittencourt, Puertas - Mbangula, Grüll, Njinmah.