Wolfsburg vs TSG Hoffenheim

The stakes are high, as Wolfsburg and TSG Hoffenheim face each other at the Volkswagen Arena in a tasty-looking Bundesliga clash.

After a brace of multi-goal margin wins over Mainz and Bochum led Wolfsburg to believe they’re back on track, a 6-0 demolition at the hands of Borussia Dortmund last time out brought them back down to earth. With only three games left, Niko Kovac’s men play catch-up on sixth-placed Bayer Leverkusen to secure a long-awaited return to European football. Only two points separate the sides ahead of the kick-off, highlighting the importance of maintaining a jaw-dropping record of netting in all 14 Bundesliga home meetings with Hoffenheim. But despite their impressive scoring record, ‘Die Wolfe’ have experienced mixed fortunes in their last three top-flight H2Hs on home turf (W1, D1, L1). They can draw some confidence from managing a 2-1 win in the reverse fixture and the fact they’re unbeaten in all eight league encounters against sides starting the round in the bottom third of the table this season (W5, D3).

On the other hand, Hoffenheim’s quest to avoid a shock relegation from the Bundesliga received a massive boost last weekend as a 3-1 home win over Eintracht Frankfurt saw them end a three-match winless league run (D1, L2) and maintain a four-point lead on 16th-placed Stuttgart. However, Hoffenheim’s underwhelming record of one win from their eight Bundesliga away matches in 2023 (D1, L6) cannot inspire much confidence. Neither can the fact they’ve failed to get on the scoresheet three times on their last six top-flight travels. What’s even more challenging for head coach Pellegrino Matarazzo is that his men haven’t kept a clean sheet on their last ten Bundesliga road trips!