Wolfsburg vs Leverkusen Prediction, Betting Tips & Preview

Preview

Haydn Cunningham Oct 22, 2015 @ 02:44 pm

In Round 11 of the Bundesliga the biggest spectacle takes place at the Wolkswagen Arena between Wolfsburg and Bayer Leverkusen. Wolfsburg travelled to newly promoted Darmstadt and edged a close encounter 1-0 to extend their winning run to 3 games. Bayer Leverkusen remained 1 point behind Wolfsburg after scoring 4 for the second consecutive game and scraped past Stuttgart in a 4-3 thriller.

Dieter Hecking’s side left it late at Darmstadt but had Daniel Caligiuri to thank as he scored the winner to give Wolfsburg a first away win of the season. The midfielder was the only change to the side that beat PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League midweek as Vieirinha was recalled but his introduction in the second half was a stroke of genius by Hecking. Bas Dost squandered 3 opportunities in the 2^ndhalf to provide more comfort in the victory as the Dutch forward continues to score the majority of his goals at the Volkswagen Arena so he’ll be pleased to welcome Bayer Leverkusen in the evening kick off on Saturday. ‘Die Wolve’ have been suspect defensively and it was an overdue clean sheet in the league, a first since 19 September. 

The BayArena have been spoilt for goals recently. A 4-4 draw against Roma would’ve had the Leverkusen supporters applauding the attacking displays but cringing at the defensive errors. Again they had goals on show but thankfully Leverkusen conceded just the 3 goals against a dogged Stuttgart side who threw away 2-0 and 3-1 leads. Bizarrely all 7 goals were scored in the second half and a late winner by Admir Mehmedi in the 89^th minute gave Leverkusen a much needed win after 3 consecutive draws. Javier Hernandez got the equaliser to make it 3-3 in what was only his 2^nd Bundesliga goal since signing from Manchester United. Karim Bellarabi would’ve been frustrated to find himself on the bench but gave the perfect response when he was introduced just before the hour, scoring with his first touch!

Before the high scoring win over Stuttgart, Roger Schmidt’s side had only scored 8 times in the league and only twice in Bundesliga history had Leverkusen scored fewer than 8 (1982/83 and 1991/92). Wolfsburg are unbeaten at home this season in all competitions, winning 6 and drawing 1. Bas Dost has scored all 6 of his league goals at the Volkswagen Arena. Dost’s strike partner Max Kruse went 11 games without scoring for his new club but has scored 4 goals in his last 3 games. An away win in this fixture has happened just 5 times out of 37 with Leverkusen boasting 4 wins compared to Wolfsburg’s 1.

Wolfsburg are back to a fully fit squad with the return of Vieirinha and Ricardo Rodriguez shaking off a minor injury. Lars Bender has been a big loss for Leverkusen as the German central midfielder has been out for the past couple of weeks with an ankle injury. Tin Jedvaj had only just returned from a long term injury but has again suffered a reoccurrence of the thigh injury that kept him out for 3 months.

Wolfsburg

Stats: W-5 L-2 D-3

Recent Form - LLWWW

Bayer Leverkusen

Stats: W-5 L-3 D-2

Recent Form - LDDDW

Head-to-head record:

Possible Line-ups

Wolfsburg (4-2-2-2) – Benaglio, Trasch, Naldo, Dante, Rodriguez, Luiz Gustavo, Guilavogui, Draxler, Vieirinha, Dost, Kruse

Bayer Leverkusen (4-4-2) – Leno, Boenisch, Toprak, Tah, Wendell, Kampl, Calhanoglu, Bellarabi, Mehmedi, Kiessling, Hernandez

Injury List/Suspended Players

Wolfsburg – None
Bayer Leverkusen – Jedvaj (inj), Bender (inj), Hilbert (inj)

League Positions