German Bundesliga
2009-09-12 - VfL Wolfsburg vs Bayer Leverkusen
A Sports Betting Pick by Niko
Football: Germany, Bundesliga 2009/2010
Volkswagen Arena
Saturday 12th September 2009 – kickoff 15:30
Vfl Wolfsburg (7th) 2-0-2 7:8
With only half of his squad available this week due to players international duties, Wolfsburg`s Coach Armin Veh has prepared the team for the home clash with Bayer Leverkusen.
Six of the Wolfsburg squad have been on international duty: Christian Gentner, Marcel Schäfer (Germany), Diego Benaglio (Switzerland), Edin Dzeko, Zvjezdan Misimovic (Bosnia-Herzegovina) and Karim Ziani (Algeria).
After 16 Bundesliga home wins in succession, the champions suffered a painful 4-2 defeat to Hamburg SV at the VW Arena. This was followed a week later by a 3-0 reverse away to Bayern Munich that saw Wolfsburg fail to create a single goal scoring opportunity in the first half.
However, good thing for the team is that they have kept the same squad from last season that won the title. Main strike force for the team will be Grafite (2009 Bundesliga top scorer with 28 goals) and Edin Dzeko (26 goals) along with the offensive and creative midfielder Zvjezdan Misimovic.
New signing Obafemi Martins has scored twice so far. The Nigeria striker was the biggest catch landed by Wolfsburg during the summer transfer window. On the other hand last year`s top striker Grafite has failed to score in three consecutive matches.
After this weekend's fixture against Bayer 04, the German champions will start their Champions League campaign with a game against CSKA Moscow.
Major setback for the team is the injury of Brazilian midfielder and captain of the team Josué who has suffered an injury to the outer meniscus of his left knee during the home game against Hamburg SV on August 23rd and three days later he underwent surgery.
Josué has been with the ‘Wolves’ since the 2007/2008 season and in that time he has made 66 Bundesliga appearances, scoring once. He started with trainings a week ago and there are some reports that he might be able to play, so he is not completely ruled out of this match.
Possible Wolfsburg line–up :
Riether, Madlung, Barzagli, Schäfer
Josué, Ziani, Gentner
Misimovic
Grafite, Martins
Bayer Leverkusen (2nd) 3-1-0 10:3
With three wins and a draw from four games, Bayer Leverkusen have made their best ever start to a Bundesliga campaign. Bayer are the only team, other than Hamburg, to win their last three outings.This team plays great under the experienced coach Juup Heynckes and are off to almost a perfect start.
Bayer had been incomplete with as many as 13 internationals off for the World Cup qualifiers. Several of them got injured and won`t play in this match. Stefan Reinartz, Richard Sukuta-Pasu, Michal Kadlec are all out of competition.
The Leverkusen defense has been solid so far. Opposition teams have only managed nine shots on goal; the lowest number for any side in the German Bundesliga.
Stefan Kiessling is the only Bundesliga player to score in all four league games. And Kiessling has scored 4 goals against VfL Wolfsburg.
Possible Bayer Leverkusen line-up :
Castro, Friedrich, Hyypiä, Kadlec
Vidal, Rolfes, Renato Augusto,
Barnetta, Kiessling, Derdiyok
The Betting Verdict :
None of the 24 matches involving these two clubs has ended in a goalless draw. And Bayer Leverkusen still holds the record for Bundesliga games without a 0-0 draw: It currently stands at 71 games.
Leverkusen's away record against Wolfsburg is just 7 points gained in 12 games and Wolfsburg have won 18 of 24 fixtures against Leverkusen (18-4-2).
I expect an open match with quite a few goals due to teams offensive formations and the type of football that both teams play.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
VfL Wolfsburg 2-2 Bayer Leverkusen
BEST BETTING TIP :
Take Over 2.5 goals (main bet)Best price is 1.60 at Interwetten Sportsbook
And another bet to consider is draw match.
