VfL Wolfsburg

VfL Wolfsburg are away at second-placed VfB Stuttgart on Bundesliga Matchday 7, pitting summer arrival Tiago Tomas against his former club. Ahead of the fixture on Saturday 7 October (kick-off 15:30 CEST), the attacker shared his thoughts about returning to Stuttgart and the Wolves’ chances of success. 

The Wolves visit in-form VfB Stuttgart at 15:30 CEST on Saturday. Having only maintained their top-flight status last season with victory in the relegation play-off, Sebastian Hoeneß’s team are second in the table after six matchdays with 15 points so far – three ahead of Niko Kovac’s charges.

VfL suffered a setback against high-flying Stuttgart on Matchday 7. After deservedly leading at half-time through Yannick Gerhardt’s first goal of the season, the Green-and-Whites failed to stretch their advantage and were undone by a quickfire hat-trick from Bundesliga top scorer Serhou Guirassy, who increased his goals tally to a remarkable 13. 
After the forthcoming international break, the Wolves return to action at Bayer 04 Leverkusen on Saturday 21 October (kick-off 15:30 CEST).

After seven matchdays of the 2022/23 campaign, Bundesliga sides are already preparing for the second international break of the season. Nine of the Wolves’ 13 international players – Jonas Wind, Joakim Maehle, Jakub Kaminski, Koen Casteels, Patrick Wimmer, Cedric Zesiger, Lovro Majer, Mattias Svanberg and Vaclav Cerny – are set to feature in qualifying games for EURO 2024 in Germany. Belgium goalkeeper Casteels will go head to head with Wolfsburg team-mates in both the Red Devils’ games, with Wimmer having been named in Austria’s squad and Svanberg called up by Sweden.

For a long time, trips to Wolfsburg invariably ended in disappointment for Bayer 04 Leverkusen. The club failed to pick up a single point from their six Bundesliga visits to VfL’s former home, the Stadion am Elsterweg, including one particular match on 19 December 2001 when they travelled to Wolfsburg as league leaders. As was the case nearly 22 years ago, Bayer are sitting pretty at the top of the table ahead of the teams’ latest clash at the Volkswagen Arena  on Saturday 21 October (kick-off 15:30 CEST). 

The first international break of the season is over for the 12 Wolves stars involved in European qualifiers and friendlies in recent days. There have been 16 wins for VfL players over the past week, as well as four draws and only one defeat. 

When the Wolves take on Union Berlin on Saturday at 15:30 CEST, the chances of Niko Kovac’s side taking something from the game are good – if the statistics are anything to go by.

VfL Wolfsburg recorded a 2-1 win at home to UEFA Champions League participants Union Berlin in their first game back following the international break. Two Danish players got the goals for the Green-and-Whites: Jonas Wind (12’) struck his fifth league goal of the season, while newcomer Joakim Maehle (30’) scored for the Wolves for the first time. Robin Gosens (28’) was on target for Union, who were unable to prevent VfL continuing their strong home record against the club from the capital.
Niko Kovac’s side are in action again on Saturday 23 September when they travel to Borussia Dortmund on Bundesliga Matchday 5 (kick-off 15:30 CEST).

Maxence Lacroix has experienced highs and lows during his time at VfL Wolfsburg, but this season the French centre-back has blossomed into one of Niko Kovac’s key players and has yet to miss a single minute of action. The 23-year-old sat down with us to discuss VfL’s upcoming visit to Dortmund and his fine recent form.

There is plenty of room for improvement as far as VfL’s overall head-to-head record against Borussia Dortmund is concerned – from a Wolves perspective at least. The Green-and-Whites have won only 11 of the teams’ 56 meetings compared to BVB’s 33, with 12 games ending in draws. Read on for more facts and figures on VfL’s third Bundesliga away game of the campaign: