Wolfsburg vs Dortmund: Hosts hope to avert unwanted record
Wolfsburg will be looking to avoid a much unwanted record when Dortmund come to town on Saturday.
Die Wölfe have lost their last four home meetings against die Schwarzgelben. They have never lost five in a row at home against any opponent in club history, and it goes without saying that Oliver Glasner will not want to be the man responsible for establishing that dubious record in Saturday’s clash.
Although that nervous possibility hangs over the hosts’ heads ahead of this clash, Wolfsburg do come into this match in solid form. They are unbeaten in their last seven games and presently sit in sixth place. Having secured a hard-fought 2-1 win over Augsburg in their first match back in action after the two month interruption due to COVID-19, Wolfsburg will be at least hoping to a point to stay ahead of the pack in a rather congested field.
While they have no hope of catching fifth-placed Leverkusen unless if they suffer a shock collapse, at the very least, Wolfsburg could still secure sixth and a Europa League berth, provided they continue in this same vein of form. As things stand, every side from sixth through 11th has a realistic chance of qualifying for the Europa League. Wolfsburg will naturally want to stay above that fray.
Curiously, Wolfsburg’s top goal-scorer Wout Weghorst, who has racked up 11 goals so far this season, seems to have a bit of stage fright when it comes to facing Dortmund. He has yet to find the back of the net against die Schwarzgelben in three prior appearances. Will that change in Saturday’s match?
Meanwhile, Dortmund have a crunch clash with Bayern in a mid-week Klassiker tie that fans are eagerly looking forward to. This match will definitely make or break their title hopes, as they sit four points behind die Roten. But first, they must make sure that Wolfsburg doesn’t represent a banana peel. As noted before, die Wölfe have lost their last four home meetings versus Dortmund and they will be desperate to avoid making it an unprecedented fifth. Yes, there will be no fans at the stadium, but there will be many watching this game on TV.
However, the visitors have a great track record against their upcoming opponents. Not only have they dominated this fixture with wins, but have done well defensively – they’ve kept a clean sheet in their last six clashes across all comps. That’s good reading for them ahead of their showdown with Bayern, where they will need all hands on deck to contain the rampaging Robert Lewandowski, who simply can’t scoring at the moment. Dortmund come into this game having crushed Schalke 4-0, and the Norwegian starlet Erling Haaland picked up right where he left off pre-COVID-19 by adding to his goal tally to make it 10 for the season.
So will Wolfsburg avoid making unwanted history? Or will Dortmund pick up another valuable three points ahead of their Klassiker showdown in a few days’ time?
