The final matchup of the round 11 in Bundesliga will be staged at Volkswagen Arena in Wolfsburg between the Wolves and their guests from the German capital. The hosts are coming off from an incredible streak of six consecutive games that ended with a draw. The most recent points’ splitting came against Schalke 04 team last Saturday (1:1). Another unbelievable fact is that Wolfsburg’s last four home duels ended with the same 1:1 result.
Hertha team on the other side is coming off from a 2:1 home victory over Hamburger SV that snapped a four-game winless streak. This should also be a very interesting showdown because another possible draw could break the current record in a number of consecutive draws in German Bundesliga which is held by Borussia Monchengladbach (seven). This is our last chance to get your piggy bank a bit fatter this weekend so let’s take a closer look.
VFL Wolfsburg vs. Hertha BSC
Three-Way: 1: VFL Wolfsburg +254; X: +300 Draw; 2: Hertha BSC +120 at BetDSI Sportsbook
Spread -0.5: VFL Wolfsburg +106; Hertha BSC -111
Total +2: Over -135; Under +131
VFL WOLFSBURG
The Wolves’ stat sheet looks incredible at the moment because we can say that they are winless in last eight games but we can also say that they are undefeated in last six games. An Extraordinary streak of draws is causing some mixed emotions with the fans that are attributing these outcomes to the lack of luck. Nevertheless, things could be worse because in some of those duels the Wolves actually had some extra luck by splitting points. It will be very interesting to see in which direction this season will go for the White-Greens because this kind of season start is pretty rare and we still can’t give the team the season-start grade.
The team currently ranks at the No. 14 spot in the league table with 10 points after 10 rounds and a 1-7-2 record (0-4-1 at home). In an example, they have the same number of defeats as second-ranked Borussia Dortmund. Their goal difference is 10-13 (4-7 at home) and they’ve managed to concede at least one goal in each of their last eight matches. 70% of Wolves’ overall duels had under 2.5 goals in total while every single home game had over 1.5 goals in total. They managed to score at least one goal in both halves in only one game so far while in two matches, they managed to concede at least one goal in both halves. In 70% of their overall matchups, both teams scored while no game had over 2.5 goals at half-time yet.
Coach Schmidt prefers the 4-2-3-1 scheme with Verhaegh, Uduokhai, Brooks and Tisserand in the defensive line and Guilavogui and Arnold in front of them operating as defensive midfielders. Blaszczykowski, Malli, and Gerhardt provide the backup for Gomez who is alone up front. Team’s leading scorers are Daniel Didavi and Divock Origi with three goals each while Maximilian Arnold, Jakub Blaszczykowski, Joshua Guilavogui and Felix Udokhai have one each in their accounts. Didavi is also the team’s leading assister with three while defender Paul Verhaegh has two at the moment. Passing segment is also being dominated by Uduokhai and Arnold with 437 and 383 total passes while goalkeeper Koen Caasteels has 124 shots against, 32 saves and one clean-sheet game recorded. The unwanted title of the most undisciplined player in the team is held by Yunus Malli who collected three yellow cards so far.
Ignacio Camacho (ankle) should be ready later this month along with Sebastian Jung (ankle). Adelino Vierinha (ankle) should also be back in training in few days while Christian Trasch (unknown) and Jeffrey Bruma (knee) are listed as day to day.
HERTHA BSC
Ups and downs are the blueprints of Hertha team’s season so far and they are nowhere near to the last year’s consistency in home games. On the other side, they managed to record a couple of solid results on the road but they are still winless as visitors with a 0-2-2 record away. On Thursday, they managed to record a win on the European scene by defeating Ukrainian team Zorya Luhansk 2:0 at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin. Potential victory over the Wolves on Sunday would definitely end the mini period of poor performances that started month and a half ago with a road loss against Mainz.
Currently, they rank at the No. 11 spot in the league table with 13 points in 10 games and a 3-4-3 record along with 11-12 goal difference (2-5 on the road). 100% of Hertha’s road matches had under 2.5 goals while only one overall game had over 3.5 goals in total. The team managed to concede at least one goal in each of their last nine duels and in 25% of their visiting matches they managed to concede at least one goal in both halves. On the other side, both teams scored in six of ten Hertha’s overall matchups (50% of road games) and most common score away was 1:1 (occurred twice). Most common scores on the road at half-time were 1:0 trail and 0:0 (both occurred two times).
The scheme that worked well on Thursday in the Europa League was 4-2-3-1 with Mittelstadt, Torunarigha, Stark, and Pekarik as defensive linemen and Stocker and Maier in front of them as defensive midfielders. Kalou, Duda, and Esswein operated mostly in the middle of the field providing the backup and the assistance to striker Selke up front. I expect that coach Dardai won’t change the winning combination when it comes to the team formation but certain roster changes are possible. Matthew Leckie and Salomon Kalou top the team in scoring with four and three goals while Ondrej Duda, Alexander Esswein, Karim Rekik and Niklas Stark have one each in their accounts. Bosnian striker Vedad Ibisevic collected team-high three assists while passing segment belongs to defenders Marvin Plattenhardt with 399 and Karim Rekik with 383 total passes. Plattenhardt also has team-high three yellow cards so far while goalkeeper Rune Jarstein has 121 shots against, 35 saves and one clean-sheet game.
Fabian Lustenberger (calf) is listed as day to day while Matthew Leckie’s (thigh) and Vladimir Darida’s (knee) status is unknown. Julian Schieber who suffered a knee injury in February is finally back in training.
VFL Wolfsburg vs. Hertha BSC – Match Prediction
Similarly like in Billy Goats’ case, the time for a much-anticipated home win might be in order for the Wolves and no matter what, that will be my first choice here. When it comes to the total number of goals scored, two to three should be the right guess but my additional pick here goes a bit further and it aims the more courageous ones who like to go all in and pick the exact final result which will, in my opinion be 2:1 in the hosts’ advantage.
My pick: VFL Wolfsburg (+254)
Additional Pick: Final result: 2:1 (+875)
