Heidenheim and Wolfsburg will get the second half of their 2023-24 Bundesliga season underway when they face off at Voith-Arena on Saturday afternoon.
The hosts are the final side in the top half of the league standings, with 21 points after 17 matches, while the visitors are in 11th place, just one point behind their opponents.
Match preview
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Heidenheim can be extremely proud of what they have delivered in the first half of their inaugural season in the top flight, as they are not only 10 points clear of the relegation zone but have also forced their way into the top half of the table.
They ended 2023 in fine style, taking nine points from the final 12 on offer, which included three consecutive wins over Darmstadt (3-2), Mainz (1-0) and Freiburg (3-1) heading into the festive break.
FCH got the New Year started with a 1-1 draw away to Cologne, extending their recent record to four matches without a loss, which is the second-longest active unbeaten streak in the league behind league leaders Bayer Leverkusen, who have not lost a match over the first 17 games.
Frank Schmidt's side have taken 16 points from a possible 24 at home this term, which is the best record for a newly-promoted club since Stuttgart posted the same tally in the 2017-18 season.
Heidenheim will need to draw on those positives to be competitive here, as they were beaten 2-0 by this opponent in the reverse fixture at Volkswagen Arena back in August last year.
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Meanwhile, after narrowly missing out on a Europa Conference League qualification spot last season, Wolfsburg are going to need to improve significantly over the second half of the campaign if they intend to challenge for a place in Europe.
The Wolves played out a disappointing 1-1 draw to relegation candidates Mainz last week, which saw them drop out of the top half of the table and seven points below Eintracht Frankfurt in sixth place.
Against Mainz, Niko Kovac's side wasted a lead for the fifth time this term, with only Borussia Monchengladbach squandering more points to date (17).
The major reason behind their poor league position this term has been their away form, as they lost six away games over the first half of the season - the most of any side in the league - though they did manage four points in their last two league outings.
This will feel like a must-win for Wolfsburg, and they will need the confidence boost as they enter a favourable run of fixtures, including back-to-back home games and two of the bottom four to play in their next three matches.
Team News
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Christian Kuhlwetter is flagged as a doubt for this match due to illness, while Thomas Keller and Elidon Qenaj are out for the foreseeable future with an ACL and knee injury, respectively.
Marvin Pieringer was shown his fifth yellow card of the season against Koln last week, which means that he will be serving his one-match suspension here and could allow Stefan Schimmer to return to the starting 11.
Wolfsburg have two players serving yellow card suspensions for this match, with central midfield duo Mattias Svanberg and Aster Vranckx both set to miss out on Saturday.
Ulysses Llanez (accident), Lukas Nmecha (knee), Patrick Wimmer (ligament tear) and Amin Sarr (knee) make up the casualty list and are not expected to return to action until next month.
Heidenheim possible starting lineup:
Muller; Busch, Mainka, Gimber, Fohrenbach; Schoppner, Maloney, Beste, Dinkci; Kleindienst, Schimmer
Wolfsburg possible starting lineup:
Casteels; Bornauw, Jenz, Cozza; Arnold, Cerny, Gerhardt, Kaminski, Maehle; Majer, Wind
We say: Heidenheim 2-1 Wolfsburg
Heidenheim have made an excellent start to life in the top flight, and the key to their success has been their home form. The hosts have scored 17 goals in eight games at Voith-Arena, and we fancy them to get at least another couple here against a Wolfsburg side that have struggled on the road this term.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Devesh Jaganath
