Wolfsburg vs. Stuttgart preview: Die Wölfe face another tough test
Stuttgart
Ralph Hasenhüttl has experienced an underwhelming start to his first full season as Wolfsburg boss. Die Wölfe began the campaign with a narrow defeat to Bayern Munich, before they got on the board with a 2-0 away victory over Holstein Kiel. However, rather than build upon that result, Hasenhüttl’s side have gone on to fall to back-to-back losses.
After being edged out by Eintracht Frankfurt, Wolfsburg established a 3-2 half-time lead in their recent away meeting with Bayer Leverkusen thanks to an own goal and efforts from Sebastiaan Bornauw and Mattias Svanberg. Although Leverkusen restored parity after the break, Wolfsburg looked set to take home a precious point. However, there was too be late drama as a Yannick Gerhardt red card was closely followed by a Victor Boniface winner.
After suffering a 4-3 defeat at the BayArena, Wolfsburg will now return to the Volkswagen Arena with hopes of claiming their first home points of the season. They will also be keen to produce a strong defensive display, having conceded at least two goals in three of their four league matches this season.
Team News
The hosts are having to cope with a lengthy injury list which features Joakim Maehle, Lukas Nmecha, Bartosz Bialek, Kevin Paredes and Rogério.
Yannick Gerhardt will serve a one-match suspension after being sent off last weekend, while Ridle Baku and David Odogu are both doubts due to illness.
Stuttgart
Stuttgart have bounced back from an opening-day defeat against Freiburg to put together a three-game unbeaten run in the Bundesliga. They played out a 3-3 draw with Mainz on matchday two, before they recorded a 3-1 away win over Borussia Mönchengladbach. Stuttgart then produced a stellar performance to claim a stunning 5-1 win in last Sunday’s home clash against Dortmund.
Deniz Undav, Ermedin Demirović and Enzo Millot all got on the scoresheet before former Stuttgart striker Serhou Guirassy pulled a goal back. However, there was to be no Dortmund comeback as El Bilal Touré grabbed Stuttgart’s fourth before Undav netted his second of the game to wrap up a memorable victory.
Having collected seven points from four matches, Sebastian Hoeneß’s side head into the weekend in seventh position. They will be hoping to climb up the table with a third consecutive head-to-head win over Wolfsburg. Last season, they recorded a 3-1 win on home turf and a 3-2 victory at the Volkswagen Arena.
Team News
Dan-Axel Zagadou, Justin Diehl and Leonidas Stergiou are ruled out due to injury, while Ameen Al-Dakhil is likely to miss out because of illness.