With the regular league season coming to an end in Germany, the champions have been crowned in the Bundesliga and we know Darmstadt 98 and Ingolstadt have been relegated to Bundesliga II.
With Stuttgart and Hannover returning to the Bundesliga thanks to their promotion, it leaves only more thing to be decided this season. The promotion/relegation play-off.
Having lost on the final day of the Bundesliga season at Hamburg, its Wolfsburg who find themselves in 16th position in the Bundesliga. Having taken the lead in that game and been level with just 2 minutes to go, it will come as a huge disappointment to find themselves in this position.
Wolfsburg will play Eintracht Braunschweig, who finished third in Bundesliga II, over two legs to decide which team will play in the German top flight next season.
Wolfsburg vs. Braunschweig
Relegation Play-off Bundesliga – Wednesday 25st May 2017 – 7:30pm
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Draw Best Odd of: 14/5 at Ladbrokes |
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Wolfsburg
BraunschweigWolfsburg Form
As you would expect from a team which dropped into 16th place on the final day of the season, Wolfsburg are not in good form.
They have gone from defeating Real Madrid 2-0 at home in the Champions League quarter-final last season, to winning just 5 of their 17 home Bundesliga games this season. Having lost 9 league games at home, it’s little surprise to see Wolfsburg struggling at the bottom of the table.
There have been only 6 clean sheets in Wolfsburg’s 17 home league games this season and they must improve defensively, if they are to remain a Bundesliga team next season.
Eintracht Braunschweig Form
Eintracht Braunschweig won their final match of the season 2-1 at home to Karlsruher but third place in Bundesliga II was already secure by then.
The major disappointment for Torsten Lieberknecht and his players came at Arminia Bielefeld, a match they lost 6-0 and this result ended any hopes of automatic promotion.
Despite that heavy defeat, away form has been good in Bundesliga II this season and Eintracht Braunschweig have lost only 5 matches on the road. Between mid-December and mid-April Eintracht Braunschweig did not lose an away match in the league.
Team News
Andries Jonker is without the injured quartet of Riechedly Bazoer, Jeffrey Bruma, Paul Seguin and Sebastian Jung for this game. The Dutchman may opt to drop Luiz Gustavo into central defence in a bid to bolster the back line and bring Maximilian Arnold into midfield.
Eintracht Braunschweig are without Phil Ofosu-Ayeh and Marcel Correia who are injured. Lieberknecht may choose to start with two up-front in a bid to get an away goal and this could see both Domi Kumbela and Christoffer Nyman start the match.
Top Betting Tips
This has the makings of a very tight game. Wolfsburg have struggled at home this season and have scored more than 1 goal only three times in their Bundesliga campaign. Eintracht Braunschweig have conceded 1 or 0 goals in 9 of their last 10 away Bundesliga II games. You can get 12/5 with Bet355 for under 1.5 goals in this game.
In terms of a winner, it is hard to split the teams. Wolfsburg have the better quality but are low on confidence, with Eintracht Braunschweig the team in better form. Much will come down to how Wolfsburg deal with the game mentally and there is every chance Eintracht Braunschweig can come away with a draw. The draw is available at 3/1 with William Hill.
Do not be surprised if there are very few goal scoring opportunities in this game. Wolfsburg will be aware of the damage an away goal could do and the 0-0 is on offer at 8/1 with Ladbrokes.