SV Darmstadt 98 vs VfL Wolfsburg Prediction, Betting Tips & Preview

Preview

Haydn Cunningham Oct 14, 2015 @ 03:24 pm

Both sides got back to winning ways the previous weekend with Wolfsburg winning over Hoffenheim and Darmstadt defeating Augsburg respectively. The win was crucial for Wolfsburg as after losing 3 Bundesliga games on the spin, a defeat against Hoffenheim would’ve sent them down to 11^th but instead they sit in the final Champions League position.

Wolfsburg will be delighted that Max Kruse finally got off the mark and he didn’t hold back there as he went on to score a hat trick in the 4-2 win over Hoffenheim. It was his first ever Bundesliga hat trick and he opened the scoring after just 43 seconds after previously going 8 games without scoring for Wolfsburg in the league. Bas Dost also scored for Wolfsburg which continues his record of scoring in all of their home matches this season. Dieter Hecking would’ve pleased at the attacking exploits of his team but will be less than satisfied with the defending his team are currently producing after conceding 12 goals in 5 games. Wolfsburg have yet to win away from home this season besides in the DFP Pokal but are unbeaten at home. 

After consecutives promotions from the 3.Liga and 2.Bundesliga, Darmstadt are fully acquainted with the top tier of German football and have climbed to 9^th. It marks an astonishing rise for the minnows and unlike Wolfsburg, are unbeaten away from home and it seems bizarre that both promoted clubs, Darmstadt and Ingoldstadt have performed much better on the road. They’ve won just once at home against Werder Bremen and if they can start matching the results away from home at the Merck-Stadion am Bollenfaltor then they could well finish in the top half of the table.

Darmstadt almost upset the odds last year when they met in the DFP Pokal but Wolfsburg needed penalties to progress into the next round against a side in a division lower. It was the only time in history these clubs have met and Darmstadt can take a lot of hope from how close they ran their opponents last time. Maurice Exslager had a chance to convert his penalty to knock Wolfsburg out but he missed as they eventually lost the shoot-out 4-5. Wolfsburg have just 2 goals away from home in the league this year.

Fabian Holland was injured midway through the month and the defender who has made 6 appearances this season is unlikely to recover in time for the weekend. Vierinha returned for Wolfsburg from the substitute’s bench and the 5’4 wide midfielder could be handed a start against Darmstadt.

Darmstadt

Stats: W-3 L-2 D-4

Recent Form - LWDLW

Wolfsburg

Stats: W-4 L-2 D-3

Recent Form - LDLLW

Head-to-head record:

Possible Line-ups

Darmstadt (4-4-1-1) – 

Wolfsburg (4-2-3-1) – Mathenia, Garics, Sulu, Caldirola, Diaz, Heller, Neimeyer, Gondorf, Rausch, Rosenthal, Wagner

Injury List/Suspended Players

Darmstadt – Kazimi (inj), Wembacher (inj), Volk (inj), Holland (inj)

Wolfsburg – Knoche (inj).

League Positions