Vfl Wolfsburg v Mainz
Mercedes Benz Arena
Saturday,28th August 2010 – kickoff 15:30

Vfl Wolfsburg

Vfl Wolfsburg were really unfortunate last week when they conceded in the last moments of the match and lost against Bayern Munich, but they have showed a good performance.

Bad news for the team is that the central defender Arne Friedrich have to go on surgery after suffering a slipped disc in the back at a training session. There are estimations that he will be absent from the team for at least three months. Barzagli will take his place in the starting line-up.

The formation of the team is changed since last year, as Steve McLaren now uses Dzeko as lone striker up front with three offensive midfielders behind him. Last couple of seasons ‘The Wolves’ played in 4-4-2 formation with Dzeko and Grafite as strikers.

In the last match between these sides Edin Dzeko played a great match scoring twice.

Makoto Hasebe is still not match fit and he will probably miss this match.

Probable Vfl Wolfsburg line-up :
Benaglio,
Riether, Kjaer, Barzagli, M. Schäfer,
Josué, Cicero ,
Ziani, Misimovic, Mandzukic,
Dzeko

Mainz

Mainz started the season surprisingly good winning 2- 0 against Vfb Stuttgart at home and continued with their great games from last season when they were one of the best home sides in the Bundesliga.

The newly-signed pair of strikers Sami Allagui and Morten Rasmussen proved to be very valuable as both scored in the victory over the favorite. Also the goalkeeper Christian Wetklo had a great game and he managed to deny a penalty taken by Cacau.

Mainz continue to strengthen the team with another signing - The 20-year-old wide man Marcel Risse who is signed on loan from Bayer Leverkusen.

Jan Simak will have to miss this match due to back problems and Bo Svensson missed a training session as a precaution because of muscle hardening, but he will be for the weekend. Midfielder André Schurrle is back in team trainings but he will not take part in the match.

Probable Mainz line-up :
Wetklo,
Zabavnik, Svensson, Noveski, Fuchs,
Polanski, Karhan, Holtby, Soto,
Allagui, Rasmussen

The Betting Verdict

I expect Vfl Wolfsburg to show their skills and record the first home victory of the season. Mainz played really well in the first round as well as the whole last season but i think that Vfl Wolfsburg have the capacity to win this match.

Mainz are much better when they play at home and i expect them to win most of their home games this season, but i don`t think that they will be able to win in Wolfsburg, so i would go for a home victory here.

The Statistics :

The Pick :

Vfl Wolfsburg 2-1 Mainz

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Take the Home win for Vfl Wolfsburg