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The German Bundesliga 1 heads to the Volkswagen Arena for the match between Wolfsburg and Paderborn on August 31, 2019.
Wolfsburg
VFL Wolfsburg was founded in 1945 and the club finished in 6th place during the 2018/19 Bundesliga season and thus automatically earning qualification for the 2019/20 UEFA Europa League. That was some kind of achievement for this club which placed 16th in the previous two Bundesliga seasons.
Wolfsburg has won the Bundesliga only once in their history, doing so in 2008/09 and their next best finish was placing second during the 2014/15 term. The Wolves have also won the DFB-Pokal once and the DFL-Supercup one time as well.
But after selling 2014/15 German Player of the Year Kevin De Bruyne to Manchester City for what is reportedly the Bundesliga record departure fee of €75 million, Wolfsburg has struggled.
Wout Weghorst had a hand in 24 of Wolfsburg’s goals including 17 of his own to become the fourth-highest goalscorer in a single season for Wolfsburg. Last season was the fourth consecutive year where Weghorst has scored at least 10 goals during a single season Given coach Glasner’s penchant for attacking football, look for Weghorst to at least duplicate last season’s feat.
Brazilian Victor heads to Wolfsburg off a 13-goal season while Swiss right-back Kevin Mbabu and Austrian midfielder Xaver Schlager have been added to further bolster this promising Wolfsburg outfit. With Glasner in the dugout, there is no doubt that a strong season is expected from this club. Wolfsburg is soccer betting favorites to beat Paderborn on 8/31/19.
Paderborn
Sports Club Paderborn 07 was founded in 1907 and has enjoyed its best success in this millennium by becoming a fixture in the Bundesliga 2 before finally breaking through the Bundesliga 1 in 2013/14. But they were relegated after just one season and even fell to the Liga 3 afterward. However, after placing 2nd in Liga 3 during the 2017/18 season and also 2nd in the 2. Bundesliga during 2018/19, they will make a return to the top flight during the coming term.
Making it back to the La Liga wasn’t expected as they weren’t among those considered for promotion at the end of the season. But with other teams failing badly and Paderborn underachieving, they were able to finish in second place and earn the right to be promoted to the German Bundesliga 1 this season.
Paderborn lost their top two offensive players in Philipp Klement and Bernard Tekpetey and the club didn’t have the resources to replace them. I mean salute to Paderborn for earning their trip back to the Bundesliga 1 but without their top two offensive players, they might be headed to the relegation zone again this year.
Who Wins?
Wolfsburg was the surprise team during the 2018/19 Bundesliga season because barely one year after negotiating the relegation playoffs for the second straight year, they finished in the top six and were a mere three points off fourth place while earning a spot at the UEFA Europa League.
After 14 months as the head coach for Wolfsburg, Bruno Labbadia left the team at the end of the 2018/19. Oliver Glasner from LASK Linz takes over after leading his former side to a runner-up finish in the 2018/19 Austrian Bundesliga. Meanwhile, Brazilian forward Victor has followed Glasner to Wolfburg and he is coming off a 13-goal season. Austrian Midfielder Xaver Schlager has also joined the squad along with Swiss right-back Kevin Mbabu to give Wolfsburg reinforcements on the field.
The Wolves have looked comfortable in Glasner’s 3-4-4 formation do far during the preseason. With Joao Victor creating the plays and Wout Weghorst finding the back of the net, look for Wolfsburg to take this match with their efficient passing and attack. I’m picking Wolfsburg to beat Paderborn on 9/1/19. Prediction: Wolfsburg.
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