Wolfsburg fighting for last chance
The Bulls can make history on Tuesday night! Should the bet on the away treble pay off in the match between Wolfsburg and Red Bull Salzburg, the subscription champions would become the first Austrian team since 1982 (Rapid Wien) to manage to win three consecutive matches in Europe’s premier club competition.
Before that, however, a hard piece of work awaits coach Matthias Jaissle’s team, who could also push the door extremely wide open towards the round of 16 in the event of a good result. It’s a different story for the home side from the Autostadt, who are almost obliged to get three points to keep their chances of reaching the last 16 alive. At least the bookmakers have the VfL as razor-thin favourites. Ahead of the Wolfsburg vs. Red Bull Salzburg match, the odds for a home win are leading at 2.45.
Hopeful for the Lower Saxons is the fact that the team showed a completely different side in Kohfeldt’s debut at the weekend than in the course of the previous negative series. If the Green-Whites can build on their good performance in Leverkusen, there seems to be a lot possible in the top flight. Germany vs. Austria – who will come out on top this time?
Wolfsburg – Statistics & current form
VfL Wolfsburg should have breathed a sigh of relief late on Saturday afternoon. After four defeats in a row in the Bundesliga and poor performances at national and international level, the Autostadt side showed an extremely improved form on the debut of new coach Florian Kohfeldt. The logical consequence was a remarkable 2-0 win at Bayer Leverkusen, which put a stop to the Wolves’ free fall for the time being.
Whether this was a flash in the pan or whether the former Bremen coach can lead the Wolfsburg team back to its former strength in the long term will become clear on Tuesday, when the all-important home match against RB Salzburg in the top flight is on the agenda. The second leg against the Austrian champions is important because the Wolves are currently in last place in Group G and can only justifiably hope to reach the knockout rounds if they win the match.
Wolfsburg are under pressure
Statistically, by the way, there are one or two encouraging signs: VfL, for example, have lost only one of their last nine Champions League home games and celebrated a proud six victories in the same period. Admittedly, however, these figures are primarily based on the past. At present, it should be emphasised that the Green-Whites’ attack has failed to score in only three of 14 competitive matches this season.
In view of the undoubted quality of the attack, which has been given an additional boost by the return of top scorer Wout Weghorst, it can be assumed that Kohfeldt’s team will also score at least one goal on Tuesday evening. However, as the defence has only kept a clean sheet in one of the last eight matches, it might be worth predicting that both teams will score, as they did in the first leg between Wolfsburg and Red Bull Salzburg.
Predicted Wolfsburg line-up:
Casteels; Mbabu, Lacroix, Brooks, Otavio; Arnold, Guilavogui, Vranckx; Lukebakio, L. Nmecha, Gerhardt
Last matches played by Wolfsburg:
1st Bundesliga
10/30 2021 – Bayer Leverkusen 0 – 2 Vfl Wolfsburg
10/23 2021 – Vfl Wolfsburg 0 – 2 SC Freiburg
Champions League Grp. G
10/20 2021 – Salzburg 3 – 1 Vfl Wolfsburg
1st Bundesliga
10/16 2021 – Union Berlin 2 – 0 Vfl Wolfsburg
Friendly club matches
10/06 2021 – Vfl Wolfsburg 4 – 1 Hamburger SV
Red Bull Salzburg – Statistics & current form
With an average age of less than 23 years and thus the youngest starting eleven in the current Champions League season, RB Salzburg are currently shaking up the Beletage of European football. After three match days, the Jaissle team has seven points. They are already four points ahead of second-placed Sevilla in Group G, which means that even in the event of a defeat, the Austrians would still retain their top position.
However, Wals-Siezenheim are not thinking about defeats at all at the moment. After all, the Bullen are still completely unbeaten in 21 competitive games this season. 18 victories and only three draws, one of them at the weekend against SV Ried (2:2), are proof of the outstanding record of the serial champions, who are now preparing to finally win again in their neighbouring country.
Five of the last eight games in Germany were lost by Salzburg. The most recent two duels were both lost last year. 1:3 at FC Bayern and 1:4 in the Europa League at Eintracht Frankfurt.
Offensive hui, defence not always
Possibly this is also one of the reasons why higher odds are being offered on the visitors ahead of the Wolfsburg vs Red Bull Salzburg encounter. If we had to decide on a winner, the choice would probably fall on the Group G leaders, as the corresponding quotes include the more attractive value in a subjectively predicted 50:50-% duel.
However, the prediction of goals between Wolfsburg and RB Salzburg is far more interesting. On the one hand, the Austrian leaders have not scored in 18 (!) international away games. On the other hand, however, the offensive is in an extreme ball-playing mood in 2021/22. Only in four of 21 games did Adeyemi and Co. score less than two goals. From Jaissle’s point of view, there has never been an offensive zero.
Nicolas Capaldo is missing due to a yellow ban. The two centre-backs Solet and Piatkowski are also missing. In attack, hopes rest once again on the coveted German attacker Karim Adeyemi and his congenial partner Okafor. Also interesting: Five of RB’s six goals in the Champions League so far have come from stationary balls.
Predicted line-up of Red Bull Salzburg:
Kohn; Kristensen, Ongune, Wober, Ulmer; Sucic, Camara, Siewald; Aaronson; Adeyemi, Okafor
Last matches played by Red Bull Salzburg:
Bundesliga
10/30 2021 – Ried 2 – 2 Salzburg
Cup
10/27 2021 – SKN St. Pölten 0 – 3 Salzburg
Bundesliga
10/24 2021 – Salzburg 4 – 1 Sturm Graz
Champions League Grp. G
10/20 2021 – Salzburg 3 – 1 Vfl Wolfsburg
Bundesliga
10/16 2021 – Altach 1 – 1 Salzburg
Wolfsburg – Red Bull Salzburg Direct comparison / H2H-balance
The first leg a week ago was the first meeting of these two teams on the international stage. After the score was 1-1 at half-time thanks to goals from Adeyemi and Lukas Nmecha, Noah Okafor was the match-winner with two goals after the break. The final score was 1-3 for the German Bundesliga side, who have now conceded six goals in a total of three competitive matches against Austrian teams.
Wolfsburg – Red Bull Salzburg Tip
One of the most exciting and interesting matches of the fourth matchday in the UEFA Champions League takes place on Tuesday evening at 18:45 in the Volkswagen Arena. Wolfsburg and Red Bull Salzburg will duel in Group G. Judging by the betting odds, the bookmakers have found it difficult to name a favourite. Although the lower odds are offered on the home side, it would be presumptuous to speak of a Goliath role.
In general, it is not our first choice to place bets on the outcome of the match. On the one hand, because the performance of VfL under the management of Florian Kohfeldt cannot yet be definitively assessed. On the other hand, because the guests from Austria have had their problems in the past away from home, especially in Germany, in putting the necessary horsepower on the pitch.
We therefore tend to bet on “both teams score” in the match between Wolfsburg and Red Bull Salzburg. This is supported by the fact that the Bullen have scored in all 21 matches so far this season, but at the same time have not kept a clean sheet in 18 international matches. The Lower Saxons can also be expected to do a lot offensively, especially as they are under pressure due to the constellation and have to play for a win.
