VfL Wolfsburg vs TSG Hoffenheim Preview

Struggling Wolfsburg will look to begin life after Ralph Hasenhuttl when they welcome fellow strugglers Hoffenheim to the Volkswagen Arena on Friday.

Die Wölfe dismissed Hasenhüttl at the weekend after suffering a 4-0 thrashing by Borussia Dortmund. The loss was Wolfsburg’s sixth in the last eight games (D2), pushing them further away from mid-table.

Current U19 coach Daniel Bauer will take charge for the rest of the season, and he will be desperate to give a good account of himself in the short time he has. His first task will be to patch up a leaky Wolfsburg defence that has kept just one clean sheet in their last 17 games in all competitions.

This game against Hoffenheim should be the perfect game to do so, as they have kept clean sheets in their last two games against their Friday visitors, winning both games. Overall, they have a good home record against Hoffenheim, suffering just two losses in 16 Bundesliga home games against them (W8, D6).

Meanwhile, the visitors come into the tie on the back of an entertaining 4-4 draw with Borussia Monchengladbach, gaining an important point in their quest to stay in the top flight beyond this season.

With five points separating them and the bottom three, a point from this game against Wolfsburg is all they need to guarantee their Bundesliga status. Their chances of doing so look slim, especially considering that they are among the worst teams in terms of away from. Hoffenheim have the third-worst record in the division for away points this season.

However, after scoring 2+ goals in each of their last two away games (D1, L1), they will fancy their chances of getting something against a Wolfsburg backline that has conceded in each of their last 12 games.

Other fixtures taking place this week in the German Bundesliga:

German Bundesliga Table