Bundesliga Friday - Wolfsburg v Schalke

Tonight we will see one of the top matches of the German Bundesliga, as Wolfsburg is hosting Schalke. Continue reading to get all the details, and remember you can check our predictions page for all the latest free football predictions!

Wolfsburg v Schalke

Wolfsburg had a great season last time around, and finished in second place plus won the German cup. They are therefore qualified directly to the Champions League group stage, will play in Group B against teams Manchester United, PSV and CSKA Moscow. But today, they have to focus on their domestic league.

De Bruyne seems set to leave Wolfsburg, and latest news indicates that Manchester City will probably become his new club. Perisic is also expected to leave the club, and both mentioned players are not part of the squad for tonight’s match. There are no other injuries, suspensions or team news reported for Wolfsburg at the moment. They have some solid substitutes, for instance Aaron Hunt, Daniel Caliguri and Andre Schurrle.

Schalke has had a period with variable results, and they have both scored and conceded a lot of goals – not even a more (relatively speaking) defensive-minded Di Matteo was able to fix this. But when they play at their best, they play at a very high level, and are especially dangerous in attack. This season they look a bit better balanced as a team, at least on paper, but we have to wait for the results to confirm this. Nastasic will still be unavailable, and also Hoewedes and Uchida (all three are defenders). But Schalke has a good squad and will be able to replace these players, even though we would have liked to see both Hoewedes and Nastasic toghether in defence.

Season form and previous encounters

Both Wolfsburg and Schalke has four points after two matches this season. Wolfsburg beat Frankfurt in their season opener, but without impressing. And in the second match they tied 1-1 away to a hard-fighting Koln team. Wolfsburg dominated the possession in this match, but was unable to convert their chances.

Schalke started the season with a 3-0 victory away to Werder Bremen. The match was more evenly balanced than the result indicates, both teams had their chances and the main difference was Schalke being more effective. Next match ended 1-1 at home to Darmstadt, a disappointing result and Schalke had deserved a win – but as with the Werder Bremen match, Darmstadt managed to create chances as well.

From 2013 till now, the two teams have met five times in the Bundesliga. Schalke won three, one was a draw, and Wolfsburg won the remaining one. At the Wolfsburg stadium it is 1-1-1.

Bet recommendation

The odds on the home win has increased following the news about De Bruyne and Perisic. But we still find the Schalke +0.5 odds to be attractive. We have a prediction out for Schalke +0.5 at odds 1.91 (10/11) with Sportmarket.  You can also get the same price with BetVictor at the moment.