Preview: Hoffenheim vs. Wolfsburg - prediction, team news, lineups

The visitors have won both of their opening fixtures in the early weeks of the campaign, so they could head into the international break with a 100% record.

Match preview

The same does not apply to Hoffenheim, but they bounced back from their defeat to Freiburg on the opening weekend to record a 3-2 victory away to Heidenheim in their last match.

Pellegrino Matarazzo's were staring down the barrel at two defeats from two games when their newly promoted opponents - who were playing at home in the Bundesliga for the first time in the club's history - moved into a two-goal lead two minutes before the hour mark through Jan-Niklas Beste and Marvin Pieringer's strikes either side of half-time.

However, Maximilian Beier and Pavel Kaderabek both struck within three minutes of each other to pull the visitors level 10 minutes before the end of normal time, before Andrej Kramaric opened his league account for the season - and more importantly provided his side with all three points - by converting a penalty in the last minute.

Matarazzo will hope to see the victory settle his players' nerves down across the coming weeks, as having performed so well during the closing stages of the previous campaign to move away from relegation danger, they will not want to be involved in another battle this time around.

Wolfsburg, meanwhile, have bounced back from their final day disappointment - when a home defeat to already relegated Hertha Berlin saw them fall outside of the European qualification positions altogether - by recording maximum points from their two games so far.

The Wolves also dispatched Heidenheim as expected before claiming an impressive 2-1 win away to FC Koln on Saturday, despite falling behind to Luca Waldschmidt's opener after 55 minutes.

However, just as was the case on the opening matchday, Jonas Wind bagged a brace to lay down a marker once again in the absence of the injured Lukas Nmecha. Wind's opportunities have been limited at times due to the presence of his fellow forward, but four goals from two starts should ensure that he receives an extended run in the team going forward.

The 24-year-old will almost certainly have some chances to extend his goalscoring streak against Hoffenheim, who can be defensively open at times, and his manager Niko Kovac will desperately be hoping to see his side maintain their perfect record ahead of the break.

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Wolfsburg Bundesliga form:

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Team News

Hoffenheim will remain without Dennis Geiger due to a muscle strain, while Umut Tohumcu's ankle ligament injury will also keep him on the sidelines.

Despite scoring from the bench against Heidenheim, Beier is unlikely to displace Wout Weghorst in attack, with the forward - who has joined on loan from Burnley for the season - desperately hoping to open his league account for Hoffenheim against his former club.

Wolfsburg, meanwhile, will travel without Lukas Ambros, Kilian Fischer, Felix Lange and Nmecha, but club captain Maximilian Arnold made his comeback from the bench against Koln.

However, Kovac is unlikely to change a winning team, meaning Jakub Kaminski and Ridle Baku may also have to be content with making an impact from the bench at some point during the encounter.

Hoffenheim possible starting lineup:

Baumann; Kabak, Brooks, Akpoguma; Kaderabek, Promel, Grillitsch, Bulter; Bebou, Weghorst, Kramaric

Wolfsburg possible starting lineup:

Casteels; Maehle, Lacroix, Zesiger, Cozza; Svanberg, Gerhardt, Majer; Cerny, Wind, Wimmer

We say: Hoffenheim 2-2 Wolfsburg

Despite their mixed start to the campaign, Hoffenheim clearly possess plenty of firepower within their attacking unit, and they will be confident of performing much better than last season.

Likewise, Wolfsburg will be targeting a European spot after their near-miss in May, with Wind likely to fancy his chances of scoring for the third successive game. We can envisage a high-scoring draw at the PreZero Arena this weekend.

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