Wolfsburg vs Bayern Munich Prediction, Betting Tips & Preview

Preview

Haydn Cunningham Feb 24, 2016 @ 10:27 pm

Wolfsburg are 1 of the 2 German clubs that remain in the Champions League with the other being their opponents this weekend, Bayern Munich. Both of them were on their travels and both came back with positive results. Wolfsburg travelled to Belgium to take on Gent and will be disappointed that they let a 3-0 lead turn into a 3-2 1^st leg score line but nevertheless are ahead. They conceded twice in the final 10 minutes which has given Gent some glimmer of hope in the 2^nd leg in a fortnight’s time. It was Wolfsburg’s best performance away from home all season by far and Julian Draxler continued his fine goal scoring run with a brace to make it 3 goals in 2 games. They managed a creditable away draw at high flying Hertha Berlin and once again took the lead only to be pegged back 7 minutes later when Salomon Kalou scored his 11^thleague goal of the season.

Bayern Munich also squandered a comfortable cushion in Turin after going 2-0 up and being in complete control they let Juventus back in it with two quick fire goals. Pep Guardiola’s men still boast an advantage with 2 away goals but Manchester City bound Guardiola will be disappointed that his side threw away a 2-0 lead despite having a very makeshift defence in the last 16 of the Champions League 1^st leg tie. David Alaba and Joshua Kimmich formed a very untested central defensive partnership with a number of injuries taking its toll for the German champions. Mehdi Benatia has just made his return from injury but the Moroccan defender was deemed to be fit enough for a place on the substitute’s bench. They remain undefeated since going 3-1 down at Borussia Monchengladbach at the start of December and have an 8 point cushion over 2^nd placed Borussia Dortmund.

Bayern Munich’s game midweek against Juventus will give Wolfsburg some advantage in the fact they will have had the week off. However, Munich are an extremely fit side and are used to the heavy demands of playing two games a week. Bayern Munich concede on average 1 goal every 2 games in the Bundesliga but 7 of them 11 goals have come away from the Allianz Arena. Wolfsburg boast a very good home record in the league with 24 points from a possible 33. These two clubs have already met each 3 times this season! Bayern Munich have gained revenge for the German Super Cup final defeat in August on penalties with a 5-1 victory at the Allianz Arena before knocking them out in the last 16 of the DFB Pokal 3-1 at Wolfsburg.

Sebastian Jung suffered a nasty ligament injury in his left knee that will rule him out for the rest of the season. Andre Schurrle, Joshua Guilavogui, Bas Dost and Daniel Caligiuri are notable absentees for Wolfsburg. Despite the defensive crisis for Guardiola, he was able to welcome back Mario Gotze and Franck Ribery from long term injuries last week. That was after Holger Badstuber was ruled out for 3 months with a fractured ankle to join Jerome Boateng and Javi Martinez on the injury table.

Wolfsburg

Stats: W-8 L-7 D-7

Recent Form – WDDLD

Bayern Munich

Stats: W-19 L-1 D-2                                          

Recent Form - DWWWD

Head-to-head record:

Possible Line-ups

Wolfsburg (4-2-3-1) – Casteels Trasch, Naldo, Dante, Schafer, Rodriguez, Luiz Gustavo, Vieirinha, Draxler, Arnold, Kruse

Bayern Munich (4-3-3) – Neuer, Lahm, Alaba, Benatia, Benatia, Vidal, Thiago, Robben, Douglas Costa, Muller, Lewandowski

Injury List/Suspended Players

Wolfsburg – Dost (inj), Guilavogui (inj), Benaglio (inj), Caligiuri (inj), Schurrle (inj)

Bayern Munich – Martinez (inj), Badstuber (inj), Boateng (inj)

League Positions