Will BVB pass the test of maturity in Wolfsburg?
The first English week of the Bundesliga opens on Tuesday evening with a clash between two in-form teams. VfL Wolfsburg are unbeaten in six league games (three wins, three draws) and have kept a clean sheet twice in a row. Borussia Dortmund, on the other hand, have won their last three league games in a row with a total of 10:1 goals.
After all, none of the last 106 league games involving the Westphalians ended goalless, so there should be a goal or two in this match as well. Accordingly, a bet on a high-scoring game is very popular for Wolfsburg against Dortmund. We see the greatest value in betting that the black and yellow team will score first and open the potential scoring.
The Lower Saxons celebrated one of their greatest successes in the 2015 DFB Pokal final with a 3:1 victory over the Black and Yellows. Since then, however, VfL have gone winless in 14 consecutive league games against BVB (one draw, 13 defeats), which is why the prediction for Wolfsburg against Dortmund definitely goes in the direction of the visitors.
However, betting on the Westphalians to score at least the first goal at the Volkswagen Arena is a better way of taking into account the Wolves’ current strength of form overall.
Wolfsburg – Statistics & current form
As former German champions and cup winners, VfL Wolfsburg have played in the Bundesliga for 26 years without interruption and have every right to be involved in international competition. The start to the 2022/23 season was correspondingly sobering.
The Lower Saxons picked up only five of a possible 21 points from their first seven games, were in a direct relegation spot at one point and, to make matters worse, had a lot of interference from outside. All the more surprising, then, was the turnaround that has continued to this day.
Unbeaten in seven competitive games
Under Niko Kovac, VfL last remained unbeaten in seven consecutive competitive matches (four wins, three draws). Not only did the Lower Saxons advance to the DFB Cup round of 16, but they also climbed back up to eleventh place in the Bundesliga with twelve of 18 possible points from the last six games.
Now it’s time to prolong their unbeaten streak in the English week in order to spend the World Cup break as relaxed as possible.
Two wins in a row with 7:0 goals
Lately, the Wolves have clearly improved in all areas. On the one hand, the defence played to nil in the last two league games in a row – and thus as often as in the eleven league games before. And on the other hand, the offensive, which previously scored “only” 13 goals in eleven league games, scored seven times in the last two games.
Nevertheless, the odds are against the Wolves in Wolfsburg vs. Dortmund, which is due to their woeful record against BVB. The Lower Saxons have only picked up a single point from their last 14 league games against the Westphalians.
Predicted Wolfsburg line-up:
Casteels – Otavio – van de Ven – Bornauw – Baku – Arnold – Gerhardt – F. Nmecha – Wimmer – Kaminski – L. Nmecha
Last matches played by Wolfsburg:
Bundesliga
05/11/2022 – Mainz 05 0 – 3 VfL Wolfsburg
29/10/2022 – VfL Wolfsburg 4 – 0 VfL Bochum
22/10/2022 – Bayer Leverkusen 2 – 2 VfL Wolfsburg
DFB Cup
19/10/2022 – Braunschweig 1 – 2 VfL Wolfsburg
Bundesliga
15/10/2022 – VfL Wolfsburg 2 – 2 Gladbach
Dortmund – Statistics & current form
Borussia Dortmund secured the vice-championship last season, but were anything but satisfied with their season, their exit in the Champions League preliminary round and their exit in the DFB Cup round of 16 at second division side St. Pauli.
Under Edin Terzic, things should be much more successful again in the new season. The interim result is quite positive. In the top flight, BVB once again reached the knockout phase, while the black-and-yellows are still in the DFB Cup draw.
An English week of maturity
Meanwhile, the Westphalians climbed to fourth in the Bundesliga with three wins in a row on 10-1 goals.
At the same time, the gap to the new leaders Bayern Munich is only three points. Accordingly, it would be important for the black-and-yellows to keep up with the Reds in the last two competitive games before the World Cup break.
To do so, however, BVB will not only have to get through the complicated away game against the in-form Wolves, who are unbeaten in seven games, but also the no less difficult home game against Gladbach, who have won five of their seven league games at home. A week that is thus marked by a test of maturity.
Won all of Wolfsburg’s last seven away games
The personnel situation is all the more unfavourable for the Westphalians, who go into the away game in Wolfsburg without a regular right-back. On Saturday against Bochum, however, centre-back Niklas Süle filled that role well, and he is also expected to play on the right side of defence on Tuesday evening.
In view of the fact that BVB is basically in good form and has been unbeaten in six competitive matches (four wins, two draws), betting on an away win for the Westphalians in Wolfsburg against Dortmund is nevertheless a good idea. After all, the Westphalians have won all of their last seven away games at the Volkswagen Arena.
Predicted Dortmund line-up:
Kobel – Guerreiro – Schlotterbeck – Hummels – Süle – Bellingham – Özcan – Reyna – Brandt – Adeyemi – Moukoko
Last matches played by Dortmund:
Bundesliga
05/11/2022 – Borussia Dortmund 3 – 0 VfL Bochum
Champions League Grp. G
03/11/2022 – FC Copenhagen 1 – 1 Borussia Dortmund
Bundesliga
29/10/2022 – Eintracht Frankfurt 1 – 2 Borussia Dortmund
Champions League Grp. G
26/10/2022 – Borussia Dortmund 0 – 0 Manchester City
Bundesliga
22/10/2022 – Borussia Dortmund 5 – 0 VfB Stuttgart
Wolfsburg – Dortmund Direct comparison / H2H-Balance
Head to head: 10 – 12 – 32
There have been a total of 54 meetings between the two teams so far and with 32 victories, BVB lead the direct comparison by a very clear margin. Since losing the DFB Pokal final in 2015, the black-and-yellows have not lost any of their last 14 competitive matches against the Wolves (13 wins, one draw).
Wolfsburg – Dortmund tip
Generally, our prediction for Wolfsburg against Dortmund goes clearly in the direction of the visitors, who have won their last three league games by 10:1 goals and are unbeaten in 14 league games against VfL (13 wins, one draw). However, the current strength of form of the Wolves must also be taken into account, who have not lost any of their last seven competitive games (four wins, three draws) and have won two of their last two league games by a total of 7:0 goals.
The most coherent bet is for the Westphalians to score the first goal in Tuesday night’s match and open a possible scoring spree at the Volkswagen Arena.
For the BVB to score first, there are betting odds of 1.78 available for Wolfsburg against Dortmund, which we play at Betano with four units.
