Borussia Dortmund vs Wolfsburg: Match Preview

Borussia Dortmund returns home from Portugal licking their wounds realizing that a very winnable match awaits them. Wolfsburg, a regular contender for Europe is having a horror season currently resting in 14th place.

At times, the best way to overcome a painful loss is to quickly return to action and take your frustration out. Borussia Dortmund certainly fit the mold of a club coming off a painful loss and face a club that they have already squashed. The reverse fixture away to Wolfsburg earlier in the season, BVB won 5-1 with goals coming from four different players.

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That match was one of the first of the season for a Wolfsburg side that had undergone a massive transition in talent. Suddenly gone were stalwarts Nicklas Bendtner, Max Kruse, Bas Dost, Andre Schurrle, Dante, Naldo, and Felipe. With that level of talent on the way out, it is no wonder Wolfsburg struggled early on.

After the 14th matchday, Wolfsburg had only won two times and had been beaten by a combined 10-1 to both Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich. Since then, however, Wolfsburg have slowly been clawing their way back away from relegation danger with four wins in six matches. In that span of good form, Wolfsburg has been able to string together solid defensive performances conceding only five goals.

The central defensive pairing of Jeffrey Bruma and club fixture Ricardo Rodriguez has been at the core of this defensive resurgence. Many Bundesliga outsiders will recognize Bruma from his time over at PSV. He was brought over from the Dutch club in the summer for over 10m Euros as part of the Wolfsburg overhaul.

In the attack, Wolfsburg underwent a change during the summer and then again during the winter period. Replacing the long time strike force was Mario Gomez who has had a mixed bag of play this season. He has notched a club-high six goals, but more significantly is the change that occurred behind him this winter. Perhaps the most high-profile sale from the winter window was Julian Draxler leaving for 40m Euros to PSG. His loss would hurt any club and the replacement of Yunus Mallı has yet to make a huge impact in four matches.

Wolfsburg typically lines up in what has become a fairly standard 4-2-3-1 with two defensive midfielders. More of the same should be expected tomorrow and with the two defensive midfielders, I would expect wing play to become a key for the match. Getting much going through the middle may prove to be difficult so getting Marcel Schmelzer and Erik Durm the two wingbacks into the attack will be critical.

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Without the entire Yellow Wall in attendance, Borussia Dortmund need to get off to a fast start to get the smaller than usual crowd into the match. Thomas Tuchel speaking of the stand’s closure:

That said, there will still be 56,000 other fans in the stadium so a quick start will energize both the fans and the players on the field.

Borussia Dortmund will take the field with a squad that is surprisingly healthy. Only Sokratis and Raphael Guerreiro might miss out from the normal group per Thomas Tuchel:

Guerreiro didn't partake in team training today as a precautionary measure. He will see if he can play early on matchday. #bvbwob
— Stefan Buczko (@StefanBuczko) February 17, 2017

Finally, it needs to be noted that the three of the four Wolfsburg wins in the recent run of form has come at home and this match they will not enjoy that advantage. Borussia Dortmund need to score early and make a Wolfsburg side ranked 14th in the Bundesliga in goals score play catch up.

The match is Saturday at 9:30 AM ET. Enjoy!

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