Preview: Wolfsburg vs. Eintracht Frankfurt - prediction, team news, lineups

The visitors, meanwhile, remain unbeaten after their opening five games, but four successive draws have slowed their progress in terms of climbing the table.

Match preview

Wolfsburg, on the other hand, are yet to draw so far this season, with three wins and two defeats seeing them sit one position and two points above their forthcoming opponents ahead of their meeting at the Volskwagen Arena this weekend.

Having missed out on qualifying for Europe altogether by surprisingly losing to already relegated Hertha Berlin on the final day of last season, Niko Kovac and his players will be determined to make amends this time around, whether through securing a top seven position or lifting the DFB-Pokal for the second time in the club's history.

So far, they appear on course to achieve at least one of those aspirations, but consecutive away defeats to Hoffenheim and Borussia Dortmund have dampened any wilder expectations. For the first time this season, the Wolves were blunted by BVB, who claimed all three points courtesy of Marco Reus' 68th-minute finish from close range.

Kovac's side have managed to defeat Heidenheim and Union Berlin in both of their home games since the season began, though, so they will feel confident of inflicting Kovac's former team Frankfurt's first defeat of the campaign.

Indeed, as has regularly proven to be the case in recent seasons, Frankfurt have been the draw specialists of the Bundesliga, with their new head coach Dino Toppmoller making them tough to beat but without the cutting edge to win themselves.

That is perhaps hardly surprising after the sale of their star striker Randal Kolo Muani to Paris Saint-Germain on transfer deadline day earlier this month, while the departure of Jesper Lindstrom to Napoli has also left a creative void between the lines.

Die Adler made close to €100m in profit in terms of transfer sales across the course of the window, meaning it was always likely to be a tough ask for Toppmoller to maintain the high standards of recent seasons. Since squeezing past newly promoted SV Darmstadt 98 on the opening weekend, Frankfurt have failed to beat Mainz 05, FC Koln and VfL Bochum - all still without a win and languishing in the bottom five positions - before drawing at home to Freiburg last time out.

It is far from a disastrous start for Toppmoller and his new team, but they will need to put wins on the board sooner rather than later if they are to avoid falling into the mid-table pack, even if avoiding defeat once again on Saturday would not represent a bad result.

Wolfsburg Bundesliga form:

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Wolfsburg form (all competitions):

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Eintracht Frankfurt Bundesliga form:

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D

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Eintracht Frankfurt form (all competitions):

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Team News

Wolfsburg appear set to remain without Kevin Paredes, Kilian Fischer and Felix Lange until after the upcoming international break in October, while Lukas Nmecha may not feature again until the New Year after undergoing knee surgery.

Kovac may feel that his side were unfortunate to fall to defeat against Dortmund in their last match and may not make too many changes as a result, but Jakub Kaminski and Patrick Wimmer provide intriguing options to make an impact in the final third from the outset as opposed to from the bench.

Frankfurt, meanwhile, will travel without Simon Simoni and club captain Sebastian Rode due to injury, while Kristijan Jakic and Hrvoje Smolcic are both doubts due to knocks.

Lucas Alario missed the draw against Freiburg through illness but should recover to make the visiting matchday squad, with Mario Gotze almost certain to return to the starting XI after surprisingly being left out for the stalemate.

Wolfsburg possible starting lineup:

Casteels; Maehle, Lacroix, Jenz, Rogerio; Svanberg, Arnold; Cerny, Majer, Wimmer; Wind

Eintracht Frankfurt possible starting lineup:

Trapp; Tuta, Koch, Pacho; Buta, Larsson, Shkiri, Nkounkou; Dina Ebimbe, Gotze; Marmoush

We say: Wolfsburg 1-1 Eintracht Frankfurt

With Frankfurt boasting the best defensive record in the division yet simultaneously the joint-worst offensive tally, it is hard to envisage many goals flying in at either end at the Volkswagen Arena on Saturday.

The visitors have drawn each of their last four league games and it would be no surprise to see them extend that run, especially with Wolfsburg arguably due one having either won or lost all of their matches so far this season.

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