Wolfsburg vs. St. Pauli preview: Two different objectives to play for at Volkswagen Arena
VfL Wolfsburg
VfL Wolfsburg (10-7-7) are just one spot out of European competition at this moment, in seventh place and just one point away from the UEFA Europa Conference League. At 2-4-0 in their last six Bundesliga matches, and 4-4-1 in their last nine Bundesliga matches, they are one of the more consistent teams aiming for Europe, with their most recent defeat being almost two months ago, 3-2 to Bayern on 18. January.
Wolfsburg are heading into this match with some momentum; their most recent result was a 2-1 win away in Bremen at Werder, with two of the three shots on target successful thanks to a Patrick Wimmer masterclass. He scored the first just six minutes in, on a deflection from a set piece, and followed with a second on an individual masterclass in the second half with an excellent shot from long-range.
This will be an important win for Ralph Hasenhüttl's side to also improve their home record, as they currently sit 3-5-4 at home with an even goal difference (22-22), compared to their much better 7-2-3 away record which sees them with a +10 goal difference (7-2-3). Wolfsburg have not won at the Volkswagen Arena in their last three matches, with their most recent home victory being a dominant 5-1 performance against Borussia Mönchengladbach on January 14.
Team News
The list of injuries for Wolfsburg is quite large, as Kamil Grabara (GK), Rogério (LB), Sebastiaan Bornauw (CB), Kevin Paredes (LM), Maximilian Arnold (CM), Lovro Majer (AM), Lukas Nmecha (CF), and Bartosz Białek (CF) are all out due to injury. No suspensions to report for this match.
FC St. Pauli
On the other side of the field is FC St. Pauli (6-3-15), who are in a completely opposite situation; instead of being at the top half of the table and getting a chance to fight for a European spot, they are fighting to avoid the relegation zone, one spot out of the relegation-playoff in fifteenth but four points ahead of VfL Bochum.
St. Pauli are also in an opposite situation to Wolfsburg, because they have not won since late January, that being 3-0 against 1. FC Union Berlin; they have only scored one goal since, in a 1-1 draw with FC Augsburg, and apart from a respectable 0-1 defeat to Freiburg, the other three defeats all came by 0-2 scorelines. The most recent was at home against Borussia Dortmund last week, where Serhou Guirassy and Karim Adeyemi scored eight minutes apart, and the Freibeuter managed just one shot on target.
Alexander Blessin's side is far from the best team this season, but St. Pauli's all-time record against Wolfsburg is positive, and something that they will look to build on; they are 1-4-0 against Wolfsburg in Bundesliga competition since 2001, and most recently, they were able to hold Die Wölfe to a scoreless draw where they held 54 % possession, and also led the shots/shots on target categories (14-9, 5-4).
Team News
Sören Ahlers (GK), Sascha Burchert (GK), Karol Mets (CB), James Sands (DM), Carlo Boukhalfa (CM), Simon Zoller (CF), and Morgan Guilavogui (RW) will not be in the squad for this match due to injury.
