5 hours ago
John Brooks and Wolfsburg will have their hands full when Erling Haaland and Borussia Dortmund travel to the Volkswagen Arena on Saturday in a huge game in the context of the top four (kick-off: 3.30pm GMT+2).
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USMNT international Brooks has been a virtual ever-present at the heart of the second stingiest defence in this season s Bundesliga. Wolfsburg have been breached just 30 times in as many games in 2020/21, their rock-solid backline underpinning their push for UEFA Champions League football. They ve also been able to count on the goals of Wout Weghorst, who took his tally to a career-best 20 for the campaign with his strike in the 3-1 win at VfB Stuttgart in midweek. Brooks customary defensive partner Maxence Lacroix was rested for that game, but is expected to be rotated back in along with the suspension-free Paulo Otavio. Marin Pongracic and Jerome Roussillon will be the men to make way as Oliver Glasner s side chase the win that would - barring an end-of
1-3Castro (90 +2)
Sasa Kalajdzic had the first big chance of the game in the ninth minute when he only had Koen Casteels to beat, but Stuttgart s giant centre-forward placed his shot too close to the last line of the Wolfsburg defence. Wolfsburg were more ruthless with their first opportunity, which Xaver Schlager struck in from distance after the ball fell invitingly for him just outside the Stuttgart penalty area. Philipp Förster had the chance to bring the hosts level when John Brooks handled inside his own penalty area, but his spot-kick was saved by Casteels. Weghorst then doubled the guests advantage with a diving header from Josip Brekalo s cross, giving the clinical visitors a cushion at the break.
9 hours ago
With six games to go, Bayern Munich can edge towards another Bundesliga title with victory at Wolfsburg on Saturday. This year more than most, however, the third-placed home side have the potential to cause an upset.
Recent history doesn t suggest that Bayern will have much trouble this weekend. The champions have come out on top in their last six matches against the Wolves, are unbeaten in 11 Bundesliga matches between the teams, and have won on their last six visits to Wolfsburg.
Bayern have often romped to victory as well. There was a 4-0 away win on the final day of last season, both a 5-0 and 5-1 success, as well as two 6-0 thrashings. In total Wolfsburg have managed only four wins in 54 games across all competitions against Hansi Flick s team.
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Much of the pre-game talk focused on the absence of the Poland striker and how the Bavarian giants were going to replace a frontman who’s netted 35 Bundesliga goals this term, 10 higher than the second top scorer in Europe’s top five leagues Cristiano Ronaldo.
FC Hollywood revealed on Monday that the near-unplayable centre-forward completed his first running session but is still expected to miss the reverse fixture in Paris; a huge blow, but an eventuality they prepared for once he returned from the international break with that knee injury.