Bundesliga: Wolves’ Bite could give Dortmund Nightmares

VfL Wolfsburg vs Borussia Dortmund

Bundesliga action returns to the Volkswagen Arena on Sunday when Borussia Dortmund will try to get their stuttering league campaign back on track.

Die Schwarzgelben are without a win in four, and to enter the Wolves’ den in that kind of form isn’t ideal. They come into the game on the back of a 1-1 draw at home to TSG Hoffenheim while Wolfsburg’s recent five match winning run came to an end with a 3-2 defeat away to SC Freiburg.

Our SBOTOP tips (well mine) at the start of the campaign tipped BVB to be a top four certainty and that may still come to pass; but the current reality doesn’t look particularly good. Nuri Sahin’s side are in eighth place after 14 games, 11 points off the lead though only two points behind a Champions League place. But if they lose on Sunday Ralph Hassenhuttl’s tenth placed Wolves will leapfrog them… and that would not be a happy Christmas gift for the Dortmunders.      

 

Talking Points

Hassenhuttl has Wolfsburg rocking

On his arrival last March Hassenhuttl steered Wolfsburg away from the relegation zone and, this season, his Bundesliga results have steadily improved to pull the Wolves into the European mix. Wins over Heidenheim and FC Union Berlin were impressive enough but the headline grabbing feat was a 5-1 hammering of title hopefuls Red Bull Leipzig. Wolfsburg then beat rapidly improving Mainz 4-3 and in the meantime had dumped TSG Hoffenheim out of the DFB Pokal cup with a comprehensive 3-0 victory.

Even last week in a 3-2 defeat away to SC Freiburg the Wolves were on all out attack after going 3-0 down. Goals from Jonas Wind, his sixth of the season, and Mattias Svanberg gave the fourth placed hosts a real scare and, in an end to end battle, Wolfsburg edged a high shot count by 20 to 18. Alongside Wind, Mohamed Amoura with five goals and five assists and Tiago Tomas, with five goals, are both lively customers and the Borussia back line will find itself stretched at times on Sunday.

Hassenhuttl can take his share of the credit. He is a disciple of Jurgen Klopp’s gegenpressing style and he impressed as manager of Southampton for four seasons in the Premier League, and that is a tough league to survive in. Under the affable Austrian Wolfsburg are doing more than surviving this season and they could be a decent bet for a Europa League place.  

 

Homesick BVB must get a grip

While Hassenhuttl is having a purple patch in Wolfsburg, Sahin is enduring a tougher time in Dortmund where he was a playing legend during the early 2000s. He made a good start as BVB boss but things have stalled recently, mainly due to a woeful record on the road. With two draws and four defeats away from home Dortmund have given themselves a real problem and Sahin needs to solve it quickly if his team is to have a successful season. With Bayer Leverkusen on a charge, following a slow start to the campaign, it looks like Die Werkself are the biggest challengers to Bayer Munich and, while Sahin will not have given up yet, his aim must be to improve on Dortmund’s fifth placed finish last term.

As ever Die Schwarzgelben have unearthed a gem and this season it is young England star Jamie Bynoe-Gittens. When BVB tried to end their woes on the road away to Borussia Monchengladbach they had a great chance when Gittens scored a sensational individual goal, jinking through the defence before finishing with style. And the return of Karim Adeyemi, who has made three assists and two goals from six games is a boost too. These two attacking stars can provide ammunition for striker Serhou Guirassy who has six goals from 11 games and they will try to get on the front foot from the first whistle in Wolfsburg.

 

History

With 34 wins to 12 Dortmund have bossed the head to head encounters but, while they have handed out some real wallopings to the Wolves at the Signal Iduna Park recently, 6-1 in 2022 and 6-0 in 2023, they have failed to win on their last three visits to the Volkswagen Arena. In fact the Wolves have already beaten BVB at home this season with a 1-0 win in the DFB Pokal Cup as Wind scored an extra time goal.   

In terms of recent results the Wolves have won five of their last six games while BVB have won two, drawn three and lost one; so how does that shape my Wolfsburg vs Dortmund tips? 

 

Betting Tip

This is one of those big European games which is great for the neutrals, with all three results well in play. Die Schwarzgelben are favourites at odds of 2.14, with Wolfsburg at 2.75 and the Draw is 3.33. It’s a tough one to call and I can’t say whether BVB will break their away jinx but, with some sparkling attacking stars on show, I think we can expect goals.     

   

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