Wolfsburg vs Schalke 04

Volkswagen Arena plays host to Wolfsburg’s Bundesliga clash against new boys Schalke 04.

Wolfsburg may have bounced back from a 2-1 deficit to hold newly-promoted Werder Bremen to a 2-2 draw on the opening matchday, but there was no comeback against Bayern Munich last time out. Despite seeing a few of Munich’s goals disallowed by VAR, Wolfsburg fell to an inevitable 2-0 defeat at the Allianz Arena, confirming their worst Bundesliga start since 2014/15. That’s not necessarily a bad omen, as ‘Die Wolfe’ finished second the last time they went winless in their opening two league outings – a far better result than last season’s 12th-place finish. Seeking their first win of the season, Niko Kovac’s men will fall back on a three-game winning Bundesliga streak against Schalke, as many triumphs as in their previous 16 top-flight H2Hs.

In the meantime, promoted Schalke 04 fought back from a 2-1 deficit to hold Borussia Monchengladbach to a 2-2 draw in the previous Bundesliga round, injecting some confidence following a 3-1 defeat to Cologne on the opening weekend. However, Schalke’s defensive woes could prove troubling here, with Frank Kramer’s men facing more overall shots (46) and more attempts on target (20) than any other Bundesliga side this season. Moreover, the ‘Miners’ have won none of their last three league visits to Wolfsburg (D1, L2), conceding an average of 2.4 goals per game in that sequence. Much of Schalke’s hopes of staging an upset here will hinge on counter-attacks, as they’ve average just 28% ball possession across the two opening league fixtures.