Bayern is hosting Wolfsburg at Allianz Arena in round 17 of German Bundesliga.
Bayern is on a 3-game winning roll where they scored 12 goals and conceded 3 goals. With 30 points, massive 44 scored goals and 22 conceded goals, Bayern is in 3rd place in Bundesliga standings, 4 points behind Leipzig at the top. Bayern has qualified to Top 16 in the Champions League as the winner of their group and will be playing Chelsea in the first round of the knockout. In their last Bundesliga match earlier this week versus Freiburg away from home, Bayern had 65% of ball possession, huge 10 shots on goal, 8 corner kicks, and 84% of the correct passes. Bayern had the 0-1 lead at the half-time, but Freiburg was able to tie the game in the 58th minute. Bayern was attacking the entire second half, and in the end, they were able to score 2 goals in the additional time and Bayern won this match 1-3. Lewandowski is playing in his best goal scoring form ever and has scored 19 goals in 16 games, unreal stats. Thomas Muller has added 9 assists. Hernandez and Sule are two important defenders for Bayern and coach Flick, but unfortunately, they are injured and will not be playing in this game. Sule is expected to return in early May, while Hernandez will return in late February. Coman and Goretzka are also injured and will not be in the lineup. Bayern is slowly improving their defense and they will certainly need it in the knockouts of the Champions League. In the Bundesliga, there is a big battle between 5 teams happening this season, and I love it. I just hope this battle will last as long as possible and that the season will be tight until the end.
Wolfsburg is doing good this season and is in 8th place with 24 points. The defense has been solid for Wolfsburg until now, but something coach Glasner has to improve is goal scoring efficiency because they scored only 18 goals in 16 games. In their last Bundesliga game versus Schalke at home, Wolfsburg was the better team with 53% of ball possession, 11 shots on goal, 12 corner kicks, and 79% of the correct passes. This match ended in a 1-1 draw. As I said, Wolfsburg has to start using their chances, otherwise, they won’t be able to keep up with the other top teams in Bundesliga. Weghorst is the leading goal scorer for Wolfsburg with 7 goals, while Brekalo has 2 goals and 3 assists. Camacho and Klinger are injured. Wolfsburg qualified for the knockouts of the Europa League from the second place in their group and will be playing Swedish team Malmo in the first round. Wolfsburg has some great young players like Weghorst, Arnold, Brekalo who are the future of this club if Wolfsburg will be able to keep them of course. As I said before, Bundesliga is very competitive this season and we are yet to see if Wolfsburg has the depth to compete until the end. In my humble opinion, Wolfsburg will end up somewhere between 5th and 7th place.
Wolfsburg has had very little success against Bayern in the past, especially while playing away. Bayern is a huge favorite here, and in the last home game against Wolfsburg, Bayern won 6-0. Bayern is a great attacking team who is scoring a ton of goals, while Wolfsburg is certainly capable of scoring a goal against any team. For that reason, I will pick something on goals here.
Goran’s Pick Both teams to score and over 2.5 +120
AUTHOR: Goran Kucar
Follow Goran Kucar on Twitter @GoranKucar