German Bundesliga
2010-02-21 - Vfl Wolfsburg vs Schalke 04
A Sports Betting Pick by Niko
Volkswagen Arena
Sunday, 21th February 2010 – kickoff 17:30
Vfl Wolfsburg
Vfl Wolfsburg already gave up their ambitions for this season which can be considered terrible so far. The current German champions are getting closer and closer to the relegation zone now sitting at the dismal 13th place, only eight points above relegation places.
Now they will have to focus and finish their season the best they can and if they climb up above the mid table that would be a good success for this team. This season is bringing a lot more experience for this team that has never played before this season in any European competition, and probably next season they will come out stronger.
They showed a convincing performance during midweek against Villarreal where they even had a 2-1 lead but unfortunately for them they had to be satisfied with 2-2 draw at the end. That result brings hope for this team that they can succeed in Europe and that better days are coming for the club, but their focus will certainly be and should be more on the Bundesliga competition rather than Europa League.
There are reports of a dispute in the squad between the temporary Wolfsburg coach Lorenz-Günther Köstner and one of the three most important players in the team – the attacking midfielder Zvjezdan Misimovic who demanded to be sold or traded from the club after several quarrels with the coach after he was being substituted and left out from the starting line up in the recent weeks. Last season Misimovic was irreplaceable in the squad and together with Dzeko and Grafite they had scored ninety percent of all team`s goals. Will this news reports become true is yet to be seen in the next weeks.
The team will not be much changed and the line up will be the same from the match against Villarreal, and only doubt will be if Martins will be in the line up from the start or will he stay at the bench.
The 22 year old Marwin Hitz will be at the goal again after his debut against Villarreal but that goalkeeper is obviously inexperienced and needs time to adapt.
Schalke 04
Schalke 04 cruised to an easy 2-0 victory at home last week against FC Koln and they have equaled nearly forty year old club record of six home wins in a row without conceding a goal which is a great achievement and shows how tight defense this team has.
In the attack Kuranyi plays better than ever scoring almost in every match and together with the Peruvian International Jefferson Farfan they are one of the best attacking duos in the league.
Farfan is also in a good form and he had scored the second goal against FC Koln last week.
Schalke 04 are only three points behind the leaders Bayer Leverkusen and coach Magath has stressed the importance to bring the great home form in the away matches as well.
There won`t be any changes in the team since last week, two strikers up front (Kuranyi and Farfan) , one in the middle (Ivan Rakitic) and five defenders in the back.
There are no reports of injured or suspended players for this match.
The Betting Verdict
Wolfsburg will face very tough twelve remaining matches in the Bundesliga and in order to move away from the dangerous zone they need to start winning. However, the team plays badly, team chemistry is far away from last season and they do not function as champions anymore.
On the other side, Schalke 04 are in fantastic form, rarely conceding goals and getting closer and closer to the top spot. Next week they will face a championship contender in Borussia Dortmund and they need a good result here. I do not think that Schalke 04 will lose this match, but Wolfsburg could be dangerous especially now when they lifted the form just a little bit with the match against Villarreal and they desperately need points if they don`t want to face a relegation battle.
The price on away win is massive and you can take it while it lasts, but i think a double chance on Schalke 04 is also a good bet and maybe safer bet, if there is such thing as ‘safe bet’ in football.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Vfl Wolfsburg 1-2 Schalke 04
