As the chase for European football hots up in the Bundesliga, some might be surprised to see hosts Wolfsburg so far off the pace. More likely to face a relegation play-off than finish in Europe now, the Wolves know they need a good result against Schalke who are flying high. Can they?

Wolfsburg News

It’s likely that young Belgian Dimata forward will continue up top. He’s been pretty poor in this season for Wolfsburg, but the total dereliction of effort from Divock Origi means we may not see the Liverpool man again in what has increasingly become a nightmare season for Wolfsburg.

The club are in a terrible positon, with only really keeper Casteels and Guilavogui in midfield capable of saying they have played with any fluency or form. The left-hand side of William and Malli has done OK, but there’s not enough cohesion at Wolfsburg at this time.

Schalke News

Meanwhile, the Royal Blues march into this one on a four game winning streak and a level of consistency that’s rarely seen in Gelsenkirchen. With the likes of Daniel Caigiuri now lighting up the Bunesliga on a regular basis alongside the likes of Naldo and Oczipka keeping things tight at the back, we expect that Schalke will have more than enough on the pitch to deal with a dysfunctional and poor Wolves side.

With the likes of Goretzka and Maxi Meyer running the middle of the page, they should have most of the ball despite being away from home.

Verdict

With Wolfsburg losing four of their last five, we can only see another L being added to their collection. While it could be argued that Schalke are more functional than exciting, they’ve performed excellently against teams like Wolfsburg all season – and will continue to do so here, we think.