Two Bundesliga teams struggling at the wrong end of the table will lock horns at the Volkswagen Arena on Saturday afternoon as Wolfsburg play host to Arminia Bielefeld.
The visitors currently sit 16th in the table, occupying the relegation playoff position, while the hosts are sitting five points and two places above them in 14th.
Match preview
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Wolfsburg have been dragged back into the relegation battle after suffering three successive league defeats, including last weekend's 3-0 away loss to Augsburg.
Manager Florian Kohfeldt was unable to take his place in the dugout after testing positive for COVID-19, so 25-year-old assistant coach Vincent Heilmann took the reins on Sunday, but he was unable to inspire the Wolves to victory as goals from Iago, Florian Niederlechner and Mads Pedersen condemned the visitors to their 15th league defeat of the campaign.
That result has seen Augsburg leapfrog Wolfsburg in the table, with the latter now sitting in 14th place, just five points above the bottom three with six games remaining.
Wolfsburg will be confident of returning to winning ways on Saturday as they are unbeaten in each of their last seven meetings with Arminia, winning six of these games in the process.
Their only draw during this run was in November's reverse fixture, which saw goals from former striker Wout Weghorst and Lukas Nmecha rescue a point for the Wolves after Arminia had taken a two-goal lead.
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After four straight Bundesliga defeats without scoring, Arminia Bielefeld stopped the rot with a 1-1 draw at home against relegation rivals Stuttgart last weekend.
Florian Kruger's first goal of the season in the 59th minute cancelled out Sasa Kalajdzic's first-half penalty and forced both sides to share the spoils.
While Frank Kramer will have been pleased to have seen his side's losing streak come to an end, a solitary point was not enough to see them escape the bottom three. Die Arminen remain in the relegation playoff position, level on points with Hertha Berlin in 17th and one point behind Stuttgart who sit one place above them in 15th.
Arminia have struggled away from home over the last two months, losing each of their last four league fixtures on the road by an aggregate score of 10-0.
Goals have been hard to come by on their travels, but they have found the net in each of their last four visits to Wolfsburg. Victory on Sunday could see them climb out of the bottom three, and it would be their first at the Volkswagen Arena since winning 3-1 back in August 2008.
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Team News
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Wolfsburg duo Paulo Otavio and William are ruled out for the rest of the season with ACL injuries, while Micky van de Ven remains sidelined with a hamstring problem.
First-choice goalkeeper Koen Casteels, who has missed the last three matches with a hip injury, is doubtful so Pavao Pervan may continue between the sticks.
Either Kevin Mbabu or Ridle Baku are expected to start at right-wing back, while January signings Jonas Wind and Max Kruse are set to join Nmecha in attack.
As for Arminia Bielefeld, Fabian Klos is set to miss out on Saturday after sustaining a head injury in the draw with Stuttgart.
Joakim Nilsson is doubtful due to illness, but if he is deemed fit to start then he will likely play alongside Amos Pieper at centre-back.
Top scorer Masaya Okugawa, who has eight strikes to his name this term, will be hoping to force his way back into the first XI ahead of Robin Hack.
Wolfsburg possible starting lineup:
Pervan; Lacroix, Brooks, Bornauw; Mbabu, Arnold, Schlager, Roussillon; Kruse, Wind; Nmecha
Arminia Bielefeld possible starting lineup:
Ortega; Brunner, Nilsson, Pieper, Andrade; Prietl, Vasiliadis, Schopf; Wimmer, Serra, Okugawa
We say: Wolfsburg 1-0 Arminia Bielefeld
Both Wolfsburg and Arminia have struggled for form in recent weeks, and a victory for either side on Saturday could be crucial in their quest to survive.
A closely-fought contest is set to be played out at the Volkswagen Arena, but we can see the hosts securing a slender victory.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Wolfsburg win with a probability of 58.98%. A draw had a probability of 22.7% and a win for Arminia Bielefeld had a probability of 18.28%.
The most likely scoreline for a Wolfsburg win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.03%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (10.92%) and 2-1 (9.81%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.81%), while for an Arminia Bielefeld win it was 0-1 (5.96%). The actual scoreline of 4-0 was predicted with a 3% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Wolfsburg would win this match.
