Saturday at 15:30 CEST will see a return to Bundesliga action after the international break, with VfL Wolfsburg at home to league leaders Bayer Leverkusen, who are unbeaten in seven so far this season. Here are more facts and figures about the Matchday 8 meeting.
First appearance – and a good omen? Koen Casteels is out, meaning that Pavao Pervan will be between the sticks for the first time since the 2-1 defeat away to Union Berlin on 31 January 2023 in the DFB Cup round of 16. Pervan made his VfL debut against Leverkusen, again replacing Casteels and helping the team to a 3-1 away win on Matchday 2 of the 2018/19 season.
Squad news: As well as Casteels and those on the long-term injured list, VfL will also be without Vaclav Cerny (infection) and Rogerio (calf) for the first match after the break.
Maehle the machine: In the seven Bundesliga matches to date, Joakim Maehle has covered a distance of 78.93 kilometres – an average of over 11 km per match, good for ninth most in the league. The Wolves also have two other players who have exceeded the 70-kilometre mark already in Lovro Majer (75.41 km) and Maxence Lacroix (70.17 km).
