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Wolfsburg
Bundesliga | Gameweek 16
Dec 20, 2023 at 7.30pm UK
VOLKSWAGEN ARENA
Bayern logo

Wolfsburg
1 - 2
Bayern

Arnold (45+1')
Zesiger (11'), Majer (46'), Baku (59'), Tomas (90+1')
FT(HT: 1-2)
Musiala (33'), Kane (43')
Pavlovic (20'), Guerreiro (90+1')

Preview: Wolfsburg vs. Bayern Munich - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Wednesday's Bundesliga clash between Wolfsburg and Bayern Munich, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Completing their schedule for 2023, Bayern Munich visit mid-table Wolfsburg on Wednesday evening, just before the Bundesliga breaks for the festive period.

While the champions cannot catch leaders Bayer Leverkusen at the top of the standings, they will aim to sign off with a third win on the spin; meanwhile, their hosts have just ended a worrying run of defeats.


Match preview

Bayern Munich's Harry Kane celebrates scoring their first goal on November 24, 2023© Reuters

In their final home fixture of the calendar year, Bayern Munich bounced back from a humbling defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt last time out in the league, comfortably beating a Stuttgart side that had been just one point behind them before kickoff.

Star striker Harry Kane took his tally to 20 goals this season as Bayern swept to victory on Sunday evening, securing second spot at the mid-season break by moving three points clear of RB Leipzig with a vastly superior goal difference.

Scoring for a 64th Bundesliga home game in a row equalled a longstanding record set by the Bavarian giants themselves in the 1970s, but Bayer Leverkusen still took their crown as 'winter champions' by also winning 3-0 at the weekend.

Nonetheless, Thomas Tuchel's team have apparently recovered from their shock 5-1 thumping in Frankfurt, having followed up a 1-0 success at Old Trafford by defeating dark horses Stuttgart.

Bayern had already made it through to the Champions League's last 16 before ending Manchester United's European campaign, and after topping their group by some distance they have now been drawn against Lazio in the first knockout round.

Before resuming their quest for continental glory in February, Die Roten must try to haul in Leverkusen, so winning in Wolfsburg will be their sole target on Wednesday.

VfL Wolfsburg's Maxence Lacroix celebrates scoring their first goal with teammates Moritz Jenz and Joakim Maehle on October 21, 2023© Reuters

Having beaten Bayern Munich just four times throughout their Bundesliga history, Wolfsburg's last league win against the perennial German champions came back in January 2015. Since then, the Wolves have lost 14 times and managed only two draws.

Former Bayern boss Nico Kovac - who oversaw 65 matches at the Allianz Arena and won the league, DFB-Pokal and Supercup before being dismissed - therefore welcomes his old side to the Volkswagen Arena with history stacked against his current club.

Wolfsburg ended a six-game losing streak away from home by beating rock-bottom Darmstadt 1-0 on Saturday, despite going down to 10 men shortly before the half-hour mark when Maxence Lacroix was sent off.

Lovro Majer struck the Wolves' winner in the 63rd minute, and the Croatian's goal also stopped a three-match streak of defeats in all competitions - previously, they were knocked out of the DFB-Pokal by Borussia Monchengladbach before losing at home to fellow top-six hopefuls Freiburg.

All told, six losses from their last nine outings has left Kovac and company stranded in mid-table and already out of the cup - beating Bayern, though, would at least end the year on a high.

Wolfsburg Bundesliga form:


Wolfsburg form (all competitions):


Bayern Munich Bundesliga form:


Bayern Munich form (all competitions):



Team News

Bayern Munich's Kingsley Coman reacts on November 24, 2023© Reuters

Due to a slew of absences, Bayern Munich named only six players on the bench at the weekend, but midfield duo Leon Goretzka and Joshua Kimmich should now return to the visitors' squad following illness.

England's all-time top scorer Harry Kane overcame flu symptoms to play against Stuttgart and wrote himself another page in history: he has taken the fewest appearances ever (14) to reach 20 Bundesliga goals.

His supply line, however, will once more be affected by Kingsley Coman (calf) and Serge Gnabry (thigh) being ruled out by injury, while Noussair Mazraoui (calf) and Bouna Sarr (knee) are also unavailable.

With fully fit players relatively thin on the ground, Thomas Tuchel may turn to teenage midfielder Aleksandar Pavlovic, who was selected on Sunday and has recorded two assists from as many Bundesliga starts.

Meanwhile, Wolfsburg captain Max Arnold is back in the fold following suspension; his return is particularly timely as Mattias Svanberg is struggling to overcome a minor injury.

Niko Kovac will certainly have to switch things up in defence, with Maxence Lacroix now serving a ban for being dismissed against Darmstadt - Swiss centre-back Cedric Zesiger is likely to deputise.

Lukas Nmecha (knee), Patrick Wimmer (ankle) and Rogerio (calf) will all sit out Bayern's visit too.


Wolfsburg possible starting lineup:
Casteels; Bornauw, Jenz, Zesiger; Baku, Gerhardt, Arnold, Vranckx, Maehle; Majer; Wind

Bayern Munich possible starting lineup:
Neuer; Laimer, Kim, Upamecano, Davies; Kimmich, Pavlovic; Musiala, Muller, Sane; Kane


SM words green background

We say: Wolfsburg 0-2 Bayern Munich

With just two goals from four December fixtures so far - and a terrible record versus Bayern in the Bundesliga - Wolfsburg are set to end 2023 on a down note. The German champions may be short of their brilliant best right now, but they clearly possess sufficient firepower to take care of business at the Volkswagen Arena.


For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.


Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting an away win in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Away Win:data


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Game History

How you voted: Wolfsburg vs Bayern

Wolfsburg
19.2%
Draw
6.8%
Bayern Munich
74.0%
73
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Bayern Munich's Harry Kane celebrates scoring their first goal on November 24, 2023
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Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Bayern MunichBayern97203272523
2RB Leipzig96211551020
3Eintracht FrankfurtFrankfurt95222314917
4Bayer LeverkusenB. Leverkusen94412015516
5Borussia DortmundDortmund95131715216
6Freiburg95131311216
7Union BerlinUnion Berlin943298115
8Stuttgart93421716113
9Borussia MonchengladbachBorussia M'bach94141514113
10Werder Bremen93331520-512
11Augsburg93241320-711
12Heidenheim93151212010
13Mainz 05Mainz92431213-110
14Wolfsburg92341617-19
15St Pauli9225711-48
16Hoffenheim92251319-68
17Holstein Kiel91261123-125
18VfL BochumVfL Bochum9018929-201


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