Wolfsburg will have to put their midweek Champions League frustrations behind them when they return to Bundesliga action to welcome fellow European hopefuls Borussia Monchengladbach to the Volkswagen Arena on Saturday.
After a 100% start to the campaign, the hosts have stuttered in recent weeks, whilst the visitors endured a slow start but have picked up their results.
Match preview
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A controversial 1-1 draw with Sevilla in the Champions League group stages in the week will still be fresh in the minds of Wolfsburg as they take to the pitch on Saturday.
The Wolves seemed set for a hard-fought 1-0 win until the referee awarded a questionable penalty to the Spanish side in the dying moments, whilst sending off Josuha Guilavogui for a second yellow card in the process.
It was a tight affair, though, and the match followed a similar pattern to most of the home side's fixtures so far this campaign under their new manager Mark van Bommel.
Although the Dutchman's new side began with four straight league wins, performances certainly failed to match results and the disappointments over the last couple of weeks have been coming.
Two draws in the Champions League and just the one point from two matches in the Bundesliga have followed that 100% start, with only three goals being scored during this time.
Van Bommel's men have struggled to control matches, whilst also lacking a cutting edge in the final third, although the strong defensive displays were a positive note up to last week.
Last weekend saw Wolfsburg fall to their first league defeat of the season when they were well-beaten by a 3-1 scoreline in Hoffenheim, with a fantastic strike from Ridle Baku the only positive to take from the game.
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As for the visitors, Monchengladbach head into this one showing signs of improvement after a stuttering start to their Bundesliga campaign.
After Marco Rose left for Borussia Dortmund in the summer, Adi Hutter was the man tasked with leading the Foals back into European competition.
However, one point from the opening three league matches was not the ideal start for the former Eintracht Frankfurt coach, which included two defeats away from home.
In fact, Gladbach have lost all three of their away trips in the new league season so far, with just the one goal scored during this time.
Hutter will be looking for his side to continue their momentum of last weekend when they travel to Wolfsburg on Saturday, though, as they managed a solid 1-0 win over Dortmund in the Borussenderby on home soil.
Denis Zakaria was the goalscorer just before half time, as the hosts comfortably saw out the game against 10 men to make it two wins from three during a small revival after the poor start.
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Team News
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The hosts remain without four long-term absentees on Saturday, with none appearing near a return any time soon.
Bartosz Bialek, Otavio, Xaver Schlager and William are the four players to miss out for manager van Bommel.
Therefore, the main questions for the boss to answer are concerning who will play in the forward line behind target man Wout Weghorst.
Renato Steffen and Luca Waldschmidt will be pushing for starts in these positions, as they look to thrust the likes of Dodi Lukebakio and Maximilian Philipp from the starting lineup.
Meanwhile, Monchengladbach remain without key forward Marcus Thuram for the trip to Wolfsburg, with the Frenchman being kept out by a knee injury.
First-choice full-backs Stefan Lainer and Ramy Bensebaini are also sidelined, with Mamadou Doucoure joining the trio on the list of absentees for this one.
Alassane Plea will be hoping to earn his place back in the starting lineup after having to settle for a place on the bench last weekend, with Breel Embolo leading the line from the front instead.
Wolfsburg possible starting lineup:
Casteels; Mbabu, Lacroix, Bornauw, Roussillon; Guilavogui, Arnold; Baku, Philipp, Steffen; Weghorst
Borussia Monchengladbach possible starting lineup:
Sommer; Ginter, Elvedi, Jantschke; Scally, Zakaria, Kramer, Netz; Hofmann, Stindl; Plea
We say: Wolfsburg 1-0 Borussia Monchengladbach
On paper this appears to be a tight encounter on Saturday, with neither side posing a strong threat in the final third of the pitch during their opening fixtures. We are predicting a narrow 1-0 win for Wolfsburg, with their home advantage, and Gladbach's poor away record, contributing to the result.
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 38.34%. A win for Borussia Monchengladbach had a probability of 36.41% and a draw had a probability of 25.3%.
The most likely scoreline for a Wolfsburg win was 1-0 with a probability of 8.62%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.47%) and 2-0 (6.13%). The likeliest Borussia Monchengladbach win was 0-1 (8.36%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.9%). The actual scoreline of 1-3 was predicted with a 3.8% likelihood.
