Seeking to boost their hopes of qualifying for Europe, Wolfsburg welcome relegation-threatened Heidenheim to Volkswagen Arena for a Bundesliga clash on Saturday afternoon.
Die Wolfe are looking to do the double over FCH after they claimed a 3-1 victory in the reverse fixture just over four months ago.
Match preview
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After finishing 12th with 37 points last season, Wolfsburg have already notched up 38 points with eight Bundesliga games still to play this term and are involved in a hotly-contested battle to secure a top-six finish.
However, Ralph Hasenhuttl will feel that his side should be sitting higher than their current position of eighth - four points behind the top six and seven adrift of the Champions League places - as they have won just two of their last nine league games since mid-January (D5 L2).
Wolfsburg's seven-game unbeaten run was ended prior to the international break when they suffered a slender 1-0 away defeat to fellow top-six hopefuls Augsburg, who managed to weather a spell of late pressure from Die Wolfe to hold on for all three points after Phillip Tietz netted what proved to be the match-winner eight minutes into the second half.
Most teams would welcome a return to home soil, but Hasenhuttl's side have only won three of their 13 Bundesliga games at Volkswagen Arena this season. Die Wolfe have collected eight points fewer at home (15) than on their travels (23) and this is the biggest discrepancy in the division.
Wolfsburg head into Saturday's contest having drawn a league-high six Bundesliga home games, including each of their last four; only once between September to November 2017 have they ever drawn five successive home matches in the top flight.
![Frank Schmidt, head coach of Heidenheim, speaking in a press conference on August 26, 2024 [on August 27, 2024]](https://sm.imgix.net/24/35/frank-schmidt.jpg?w=640&h=480&auto=compress,format&fit=clip "Frank Schmidt, head coach of Heidenheim, speaking in a press conference on August 26, 2024 [on August 27, 2024]")
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Heidenheim entered the international break on a high as they ended a nine-game winless run in the Bundesliga by beating fellow strugglers Holstein Kiel 3-1 on home soil - just their fifth top-flight win of the season.
Goals from Marvin Pieringer, Budu Zivzivadze and Sirlord Conteh secured three valuable points for FCH and helped them move off the foot of the table, leapfrogging Holstein Kiel into 17th spot and moving to within one point of VfL Bochum who occupy the relegation playoff position.
Frank Schmidt, who has been in charge of Heidenheim since 2007, has eight games to save his side from relegation and their next four fixtures are against teams currently sitting in the top eight, with Saturday's clash against Wolfsburg followed by challenging encounters with Bayer Leverkusen, Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayern Munich.
Heidenheim have accumulated five points from their last four Bundesliga matches (W1 D2 L1), as many as they collected from their previous 17 games combined, and after beating Holstein Kiel last time out, FCH will attempt to win back-to-back Bundesliga games for just the second time this season (previously doing so across the opening two matchdays).
However, success on Saturday could prove challenging as FCH have failed to win any of their last 10 Bundesliga away matches (D3 L7) - the longest ongoing run in the division as well as an unwanted club record. Heidenheim have also conceded at least one goal during this run (24 in total) and are enduring the Bundesliga's longest run without a clean sheet on the road - another unwanted club record.
Team News
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Wolfsburg will be without Mathys Angely (hamstring), Bartosz Bialek (knee), Lovro Majer (ankle), Kevin Paredes (foot) and Lukas Nmecha (groin) due to injury, while Sebastiaan Bornauw (foot) and Rogerio (knee) will be assessed ahead of kickoff.
Mohamed Amoura will serve a one-match suspension due to an accumulation of yellow cards, so Andreas Skov Olsen could be recalled to start on the right flank, allowing Tiago Tomas to move over to the left, while joint-top scorer Jonas Wind - who has scored 10 goals along with Amoura this term - continues to lead the line.
Patrick Wimmer will be hoping to force his way back into the first XI at the expense of Bence Dardai as Maximilian Arnold and Mattias Svanberg continue to link arms in centre-midfield, while a back four of Kilian Fischer, Denis Vavro, Konstantinos Koulierakis and Joakim Maehle is set to remain intact.
As for Heidenheim, Mathias Honsak, Julian Niehues (both muscle) and Paul Wanner (ill) are all doubtful, while Omar Traore will serve a one-match suspension due to an accumulation of yellow cards.
The absence of Traore will likely see Marnon Busch deputise at right wing-back, while Tim Siersleben - who came through the ranks at Wolfsburg and made his one and only senior appearance for the club at the end of the 2020-21 campaign - will battle with Jonas Fohrenbach for a start in the back three.
Budu Zivzivadze is looking to score in his third successive Bundesliga match and the Georgia international is expected to start in attack with top scorer Marvin Pieringer, who has seven goals to his name in all competitions this term.
Wolfsburg possible starting lineup:
Grabara; Fischer, Vavro, Koulierakis, Maehle; Svanberg, Arnold; Skov Olsen, Wimmer, Tomas; Wind
Heidenheim possible starting lineup:
Muller; Mainka, Gimber, Fohrenbach; Busch, Schoppner, Dorsch, Kratzig; Beck; Pieringer, Zivzivadze
We say: Wolfsburg 3-1 Heidenheim
Heidenheim can ill-afford to drop points this weekend considering the challenging run of fixtures they have on the horizon, but they have struggled on the road for some time and will be regarded as underdogs against a European-chasing Wolfsburg side who have collected seven points from their previous three Bundesliga meetings with FCH (W2 D1), winning this exact fixture by a 2-0 scoreline last season.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Oliver Thomas
