Arminia Bielefeld will be looking to climb out of the Bundesliga relegation zone when they welcome a revitalised Wolfsburg side to the Schuco-Arena on Saturday.
The hosts finally won their first league game of the season prior to the international break, whilst their visitors have turned results around in recent weeks under their new manager.
Match preview
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As mentioned above, Bielefeld's 1-0 win at Stuttgart in their final game before the two-week international break was their first in the Bundesliga this campaign.
Frank Kramer's side saw little of the ball but when they did, they counter-attacked with purpose and were the far more threatening of the two teams, with Masaya Okugawa's first-half goal proving the difference between the two struggling sides.
The three points was not enough to alter Die Arminen's position in the league table - 17th - but it reduced the gap to Augsburg in the relegation playoff spot to just a single point, and to only two points from their defeated opponents Stuttgart in complete safety.
Five draws and five defeats from the opening 10 matchdays prior to that, with only six goals scored, meant it looked to be a long hard season ahead for Kramer and his players, but that result will have provided the much-needed boost in confidence and belief throughout the club.
Scoring goals still clearly remains the issue, with their lowly figure of seven remaining the lowest throughout the division, but hope has now re-appeared in sight for the relegation candidates to avoid the drop from the top flight after all.
Despite losing on both occasions to Wolfsburg last season, Bielefeld will be in positive spirits heading into Saturday's meeting, although they will be frustrated that they were unable to retain their momentum immediately following the victory in Stuttgart, with a two-week break interrupting that opportunity.
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Meanwhile, visitors Wolfsburg are in high spirits themselves as they make the trip to Bielefeld on Saturday, with three straight victories being achieved under their new manager Florian Kohfeldt.
The 39-year-old German boss was the swift replacement for Mark van Bommel in October, who had only arrived in the hot seat in the summer himself.
After winning four straight Bundesliga fixtures to begin the 2021-22 campaign, the Dutchman failed to win in any competition again since, with poor performances being as major a factor for his dismissal as the slump in results themselves.
However, Kohfeldt's impact has been immediate, earning impressive back-to-back results away to Bayer Leverkusen and at home to Red Bull Salzburg in the Bundesliga and Champions League respectively, before defeating Augsburg 1-0 at the Volkswagen Arena prior to the international break.
Lukas Nmecha has proved vital to the new manager's plans, with the 22-year-old forward netting in each of his opening matches in charge, and taking on the goal scoring responsibility in the absence, as well as return to fitness, of last season's top goalscorer Wout Weghorst.
Those three goals have taken Nmecha's tally to six for the season, despite only registering eight starts, and after making his debut for Germany during the international break, he will be looking to continue his fine start to the season at the Schuco-Arena on Saturday to help solidify his side's Champions League spot in the table.
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Team News
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Despite having very few injury problems to contend with this season so far, Bielefeld have continued to struggle for results.
Once again there are little, if any, concerns for Kramer to worry about ahead of Saturday, with Patrick Wimmer the only player to check on.
The young Austrian winger was replaced late on at Stuttgart due to a broken nose, but is expected to be available once more with the assistance of a protective mask if necessary, to leave a potentially unchanged starting lineup after the first league win of the campaign last time out.
As for Wolfsburg, they have plenty of injury and suspension problems to deal with, as they have done for much of the season so far, unlike their hosts on Saturday.
Central defence is a particular area of concern, with Maxence Lacroix remaining suspended and Sebastiaan Bornauw potentially joining him on the sidelines due to an ankle injury picked up against Augsburg last time out.
Twenty-year-old Micky van de Ven may be required to fill the void in the back three alongside Josuha Guilavogui and John Brooks were Bornauw to miss out.
Elsewhere, William, Xaver Schlager and Bartosz Bialek are definitely ruled out with long-term injuries, whilst Aster Vranckx, Admir Mehmedi and Luca Waldschmidt join Bornauw on the list of doubtful players.
Arminia Bielefeld possible starting lineup:
Ortega; Brunner, Pieper, Nilsson, Laursen; Prietl, Vasiliadis; Wimmer, Kruger, Okugawa; Klos
Wolfsburg possible starting lineup:
Casteels; Van de Ven, Guilavogui, Brooks; Baku, Steffen, Arnold, Otavio; L Nmecha, Gerhardt; Weghorst
We say: Arminia Bielefeld 0-1 Wolfsburg
On paper this looks set to be a tight affair between two low-scoring sides with relatively solid defences at either end too.
As a result, we are predicting a narrow win for Wolfsburg to continue their resurgence under their new manager, against a home side possessing little quality so far this season despite their first win last time out.
Top tip
Matthew Tranter
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Wolfsburg win with a probability of 52.29%. A draw had a probability of 25.3% and a win for Arminia Bielefeld had a probability of 22.37%.
The most likely scoreline for a Wolfsburg win was 0-1 with a probability of 12.86%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (10.1%) and 1-2 (9.41%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.98%), while for an Arminia Bielefeld win it was 1-0 (7.63%). The actual scoreline of 2-2 was predicted with a 4.4% likelihood.
