In-form Borussia Dortmund make the trip to the Volkswagen Arena on Saturday to face a Wolfsburg side performing below expectations in the Bundesliga.
A very impressive start to 2024 has seen Edin Terzic's side take a place in the top four, and they extended their gap to fifth-place RB Leipzig last weekend.
Match preview
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Four wins from five Bundesliga games has seen Dortmund put a mediocre first half of the season behind them, moving three points clear in the Champions League places.
The recipe to their success in 2024 has been in attack, as all four of their wins so far have seen BVB score three or more goals, with the only exception being a blip against a tricky Heidenheim side.
Dortmund recovered from that 0-0 draw on the road by comfortably putting Freiburg to the sword last weekend, beating their fellow European contenders Freiburg 3-0 at Signal Iduna Park.
Leipzig's draw with Augsburg saw them reclaim their three-point gap over Die Roten Bullen, but Dortmund are struggling to catch another side in excellent form - Stuttgart in third.
This game represents an opportunity for Dortmund to match a 30-year club record too, as it could be the first time since 1994 where they keep four successive clean sheets on the road in the Bundesliga.
That would be the perfect preparation ahead of a trip to the Netherlands to face PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League in midweek.
Wolfsburg are a side who Dortmund have enjoyed dominant success against for almost a decade too, as they have won 15 of the previous 17 meetings - scoring 46 in that time.
Thrashings of 6-0 and 6-1 have been handed out to Wolfsburg in the last two years, but the hosts did win in this fixture last season - their only win against Dortmund since 2015.
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A win is something the Wolves have been unable to achieve in 2024 as of yet though, meaning they have fallen to 12th.
Three straight 1-1 draws to kick off the year was followed by another tie with Hoffenheim where they had to come from behind twice.
However, they left the capital empty-handed last weekend after Union Berlin got the better of Niko Kovac's men, thanks to Danilho Doekhi's peculiar goal in the 26th minute of first-half stoppage time.
That result means for the first time in Kovac's reign, Wolfsburg have now gone six games without a win, and if that run is extended to seven here, it will be their worst start to a calendar year since 1998.
Despite that slide though, Wolfsburg are still in a relatively safe position, seven points above the drop zone, but their push for Europe appears to be fading away, with a nine-point gap to Eintracht Frankfurt.
The club will still have more than one eye over their shoulder though, as this is the lowest points tally they have had since 2016-17, when they needed a relegation playoff to survive the drop.
Team News
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Wolfsburg could be able to welcome back a number of first-team players ahead of this clash following a lengthy list of absentees in recent weeks.
Goalkeeper Koen Casteels returned to training after a back injury but it is still touch and go about whether he will be fit, while Tiago Tomas is also back with his teammates after a damaged elbow.
Elsewhere, Aster Vranckx is available for selection again following a thigh strain, but Rogerio remains on the sidelines for the hosts.
Illness saw Dortmund midfielder Salih Ozcan miss the Freiburg win, but he could be set to return here, after Marco Reus, Gregor Kobel and Julian Ryerson recovered from a similar virus last week.
Ramy Bensebaini is struggling with illness himself though and is likely to miss out, while Felix Nmecha is not yet ready to return from a hip injury, with his brother Lukas Nmecha also absent for Wolfsburg.
Sebastian Haller is back after Africa Cup of Nations glory, but Terzic has revealed he is struggling with match fitness at present, while fellow attacker Karim Adeyemi is out again after picking up another new injury this week.
Wolfsburg possible starting lineup:
Casteels; Baku, Lacroix, Jenz, Maehle; Majer, Svanberg, Arnold, Vranckx; Behrens, Wind
Borussia Dortmund possible starting lineup:
Kobel; Ryerson, Sule, Schlotterbeck, Maatsen; Sabitzer, Can, Brandt; Malen, Fullkrug, Sancho
We say: Wolfsburg 0-2 Borussia Dortmund
Dortmund have been superb in 2024, and with almost a full complement available to Terzic, they could hand out more misery on Wolfsburg here.
Already in the midst of a six-game winless run, Kovac could hardly have asked for many tougher challenges to arrest that run, and Wolfsburg's dismal record against Dortmund only further shortens their chance of success here.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Andrew Delaney
