German Bundesliga - Wolfsburg vs. Eintracht Frankfurt - Preview & Prediction
By Valdis Pans
After thrashing top-four hopefuls Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday, 6th-placed Wolfsburg will try to bank their third victory in the last four games while hosting 14th-placed Eintracht Frankfurt, who sit just two points above the relegation play-off spot. Kick-off - at 9:30 AM ET on Saturday, May 30.
Wolfsburg Triumph In Leverkusen
Wolfsburg recorded their second win in three games since the Bundesliga restart (W2 L1) after beating Bayer Leverkusen with a count of 4-1 away at BayArena on Tuesday. The hosts controlled the majority of ball possession (70%) while the Wolves dominated in shots (14-9), delivering nine attempts on target, as center-back Marin Pongracic headed home two deliveries by Maxi Arnold, who also added a goal himself. Renato Steffen also scored for Wolfsburg, who remain 6th in the league (W11 D9 L8), three points ahead of the 7th-placed Hoffenheim.
Dutch forward Wout Weghorst leads the Wolves with 11 strikes but has failed to get on the scoreboard for the last three Bundesliga outings. Goalie Koen Casteels, meanwhile, sits 16th in the league with 58 saves. He has recorded four clean sheets in 20 starts, allowing a goal every 69 minutes on average. Wolfsburg are 9th in most goals scored this year (40), 5th in most shots taken (13.8 per game), and 9th in both ball possession (48.7%) and passing accuracy (75.8%).
Frankfurt End Losing Skid
A five-game losing run finally came to an end for Eintracht Frankfurt, who squeezed out an unexpected 3-3 draw against Freiburg at Commerzbank Arena on Tuesday. The Eagles outshot the visitors by a large margin (34-10) and raked in 16 shots on goal, controlling the ball 63% of the time, but found themselves trailing 1-0 and 3-1 until Daichi Kamada and Timothy Chandler rescued a point in the last 11 minutes of the game. Andre Silva also scored for Frankfurt, who are 14th in the league (W8 D5 L14), sitting just two points above the bottom three.
Austrian center-back Martin Hinteregger leads the Eagles with eight goals, while Serbian left-winger Filip Kostic (4 strikes) tops the team’s assists charts with 10 helpers. Goalie Kevin Trapp, meanwhile, has made 57 Bundesliga saves this season, thus occupying the 17th position in the league in this department. He has picked up three clean sheets in 16 appearances this year, allowing a goal every 46 minutes on average. Eintracht Frankfurt is 6th in most goals buried this season (44), 3rd in most shots delivered (15.5 per game), 10th in ball possession (48.6%), and 15th in passing accuracy (75.5%).
Prediction
Eintracht Frankfurt finally managed to earn their first point in the last six tries, banking a 3-3 draw in midweek’s most entertaining matchup against Freiburg. A much tougher proposition, though, is expected during Saturday’s trip to Wolfsburg, with the hosting team currently enjoying an excellent form, which has brought just one defeat on the last nine occasions (W5 D3 L1). The Wolves have also been performing extremely well versus the Eagles, beating Frankfurt in five of the last seven head-to-head matches (W5 D1 L1), losing to them just twice in the previous 14 encounters (W8 D4 L2).
Best bet:
Wolfsburg to win (-105)
