Boetius, Jean-Paul
Gerhardt, Yannick
European chasers Wolfsburg welcome already-relegated Hertha Berlin to the Volkswagen Arena on Saturday afternoon as the Bundesliga season draws to a close.
While bottom club Hertha find themselves six points from safety with one game remaining, Wolfsburg occupy seventh place in the table – one point shy of Bayer Leverkusen and the European spots.
The Wolves head into Saturday’s showdown on the back of a 2-0 defeat at Freiburg, meaning they have lost two of their last three matches, with a 6-0 thrashing at the hands of title-chasing Borussia Dortmund coming earlier this month.
When you look at the bigger picture, however, Niko Kovac’s men have lost just three of their previous 12 Bundesliga games, picking up five wins and four draws to remain in the hunt for European football.
Wolfsburg have been especially strong at the Volkswagen Arena in recent times, avoiding defeat in each of their last six home matches while losing two of their previous 13 league encounters on home soil, notching six wins and five draws along the way.
By contrast, Hertha Berlin have been woeful on their travels. Not only have they lost each of their last three away league games, but they have also lost 11 of their previous 12, with their only road victory of the campaign coming all the way back in September.
It would not be unfair to say that Die Alte Dame have endured a torrid time both home and away this season, as they have lost 19 of their 33 Bundesliga clashes to finish rock bottom of the table.
Following recent 5-2 thrashings against Schalke and Cologne – as well as a 4-2 defeat to Werder Bremen – Hertha Berlin could end up suffering another heavy loss on Saturday, as only four teams have scored more goals than Wolfsburg this season.
In fact, Wolfsburg have already registered a high-scoring win over Hertha this season, with a 5-0 victory coming in the reverse fixture back in January, meaning the Wolves have won three of their last four meetings with the club from the capital.
To make matters worse for Die Alte Dame, they have only managed to win one of their previous 11 Bundesliga meetings with Wolfsburg, conceding at least two goals on six occasions.
The hosts will have to make do without Maxence Lacroix (shoulder), Paulo Otavio (ankle) and Lukas Nmecha (tendon) for the final game of the season, as all three players have been ruled out due to injury.
The visitors have multiple injury problems of their own, with Wilfried Kanga (muscle), Marc-Oliver Kempf (rib), Filip Uremovic (concussion), Tolga Cigerci (calf) and Kelian Nsona (ACL) resigned to the treatment room.
Expert Insight: While Hertha have nothing left to play for, Wolfsburg must better Bayer Leverkusen’s result to stand any chance of securing European football. For that reason, Kovac’s men are expected to claim all three points in front of their home fans, signing off on a positive note.
Bundesliga