A new era under an ex-Leipziger | Wolfsburg preview

Face up to Wolfsburg in the race for the Champions League!

The Red Bulls will welcome Wolfsburg to the Red Bull Arenaon Bundesliga Matchday 29, the game kicking off on Saturday at 3.30pm.

“The only thing that counts for us against Wolfsburg is the three points,” says goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi, looking ahead to the clash. The goal is clear: after the 4-1 win at SC Freiburg, we want to defend fourth place in the Bundesliga.

Wolfsburg, on the other hand, are 14th in the table and currently five points clear of the relegation play-off spot and six above direct relegation. Under new coach Ralph Hasenhüttl – who was at RB Leipzig between 2016 and 2018 – the Wolves recently suffered a setback after a promising start.

Form, key players, coach and record – the lowdown on the opponents!

Tickets for #RBLWOB

Home game on Saturday!

VfL Wolfsburg Form Check

Defeat after victory after Hasenhüttl succeeded Niko Kovac
Wolfsburg had been without a win in 10 games when Hasenhüttl took over, and the turnaround looked immediate, with a full-deserved 2-0 win at SV Werder Bremen in his first game in charge. But most recently, despite taking a 1-0 lead against Borussia Mönchengladbach, they fell to a 3-1 loss, despite the xG being 0.97 to 0.82 in VfL’s favour.
Two of the four wins since October against Leipzig
In the last 21 games, Wolfsburg have only won four times, but twice against our boys: 2-1 on Matchday 12 in the Bundesliga and previously 1-0 in the second round of the DFB Cup.
Many recent defeats
The team from Lower Saxony have lost four of their last five games, also against FC Augsburg, at Bayer 04 Leverkusen and VfB Stuttgart. Before that, VfL had achieved six draws in seven games.

Personnel update before #RBLWOB

Wind out of form (scorer, provider)
Jonas Wind has seven league goals this season, the most for Wolfsburg, but the Denmark international striker hasn’t scored since the reverse fixture against RBL in the first half of the season. Since then, however, he has often played in a more withdrawn position behind winter newcomer Kevin Behrens, collecting five of his seven assists during this period.
Ever-reliable Maehle (versatile, international experience)
After Wind, his “Danish Dynamite” teammate Joakim Maehle has played the most minutes for the Wolves, as a right- and left-back in a back four and as a right or left wing-back in front of a back three. The summer transfer from Atalanta has also already has six direct goal-involvements (two goals, four assists).
Casteels questionable (shot-stopper, leading player)
Regular goalkeeper Koen Casteels missed the last three games with a shoulder injury, but Pavao Pervan has deputised confidently for the Belgium international goalkeeper, as usual. For Casteels it remains to be seen whether he can return to training in time.

Absentees

Maxence Lacroix (red card suspension)
Lukas Nmecha (hamstring injury)

The Head Coach

Ralph Hasenhüttl recently returned to the Bundesliga after almost six years; after his time at RB Leipzig, he coached Southampton in the Premier League between 2018 and the end of 2022. His greatest success there was probably reaching the semi-finals of the 2020/21 FA Cup.
The 56-year-old Austrian clearly defined his short-term goals at VfL: “It’s crucial that we stabilise ourselves and get the necessary points to stay in the league. I’ll only talk about the other goals once we’ve achieved the first goal.”
In Saxony, Hasenhüttl shaped our first years in the Bundesliga, including finishing as runner-up the season after promotion. The 67 points he achieved with us is still our Bundesliga record.

Peter Gulacsi:

“It was a fantastic two years under him. We played RB Leipzig’s first Bundesliga season under Ralph. This year will always be special for everyone who was there. We started the season without any great expectations, but in the end we came second and qualified for the Champions League. That stays forever. Ralph’s a great person and a very good coach. He’s shown that in England at Southampton over the last few years and I’m convinced that he’ll show that in Wolfsburg too.”

Coach facts

Name: Ralph Hasenhüttl
Geburtstag: 9 August 1967 in Graz, Austria
Teams manages: VfL Wolfsburg, Southampton, RB Leipzig, FC Ingolstadt, VfR Aalen, SpVgg Unterhaching
Successes: Bundesliga runner-up in 2016/17 with RB Leipzig, 2. Bundesliga champions in 2014/15 with FC Ingolstadt

How Wolfsburg started their last game

Pervan – Maehle, Bornauw, Jenz, Gerhardt – Baku, Svanberg, Arnold (C), Wimmer – Tomás, Wind

RB Leipzig head-to-head record against Wolfsburg

Direct comparison

Before the two losses this season, RBL had won three times in a row against Wolfsburg.
10 wins , 5 draws, 6 defeats – 33-18 on aggregate
7 home wins, 3 away wins
Top goalscorer: Timo Werner (5 goals)
Highest win: 6-1 on 30 October 2019 (goals: 2x Werner, Bruma, Forsberg, Laimer, Sabitzer)

Where can you watch RB Leipzig vs. VfL Wolfsburg?

Sky will broadcast the game live on Saturday from 3.30pm. For this you need a Sky subscription. You can of course also follow the encounter free of charge in our RBL App – including live audio broadcast on Bullenfunk.
And of course we are also live on our social media channels Twitter, Facebookand Instagram as well as our WhatsApp Channel! There you will full information and exclusive content about the game.