VfL Wolfsburg vs. Borussia Mönchengladbach preview: Bottom-six battle to avoid relegation | OneFootball

VFL WOLFSBURG

Last weekend, Dieter Hecking’s VfL Wolfsburg (6-6-18, 17th) returned to winning ways through a 2-1 victory in the German capital against 1. FC Union Berlin - thanks to two powerful shots from outside the box courtesy of Patrick Wimmer and Dženan Pejčinović.

Despite remaining in the relegation zone going into the thirty-first matchweek, the result put Wolfsburg just two points behind the relegation playoff spot and the only other team that they defeated this year - FC St. Pauli, who have 26 points (6-8-16) compared to 24 from Die Wölfe.

Wolfsburg have won all of their last three meetings with Gladbach, dating back to 14. January 2025, scoring nine goals and conceding two in that span (5-1, 1-0, 3-1). Prior to this streak, Wolfsburg had not defeated Gladbach since a 2-1 victory on 15. December 2019. However, Ralph Hasenhüttl and Daniel Bauer coached the Wolfsburg squads on those days, and only the most recent occasion involved Eugen Polański as Gladbach coach - the other two were with Gerardo Seoane leading Die Fohlen.

However, it becomes difficult to compare previous seasons to this current campaign when it is considered that Wolfsburg have the worst home record in the league in 2025/26, picking up just nine points out of a potential 45 (2-3-10). Gladbach, on the other hand, have the sixth-worst away record in the league, with 13 points (3-4-8).

A notable player to watch for the hosts is Slovak centre-back Denis Vavro, who made 17 clearances in the match against Union Berlin and primarily held back Andrej Ilić from a series of goalscoring opportunities - with Hecking himself comparing the playing style of Ilić to that of the Gladbach striker that Wolfsburg will look to shut down this weekend, Haris Tabaković.

Team News:

VfL Wolfsburg remain without eight players, three of which are almost guaranteed not to appear on the field for the rest of the season.

The only week-to-week injury is that of Swedish defensive midfielder Mattias Svanberg (calf), who picked up an injury in training two weeks ago. German right-back Kilian Fischer (thigh), Brazilian defender Cleiton Santos (ankle), American midfielder Kevin Paredes (muscle), and Danish striker Jonas Wind (muscle) will be absent until the second week of May at the latest.

Brazilian defender Rogério (fitness) and Dutch centre-back Jenson Seelt (knee) will be absent until the last match of the season - with the latter’s contract expiring at the end of June. Hungarian central midfielder Bence Dárdai (anterior cruciate ligament) will be absent until the 2026/27 preseason begins in the middle of July.

Projected Lineup (3-5-2): Grabara - Koulierakis, Vavro, Belocian - Zehnter, Eriksen, Souza, Wimmer, Mæhle - Amoura, Pejčinović.

BORUSSIA MÖNCHENGLADBACH

On the other side of the field is Dieter Hecking’s former team, which he joined after his first spell in Niedersachsen and coached from 2016-2019 - Borussia Mönchengladbach (7-10-13, 13th).

Die Fohlen, currently led by Poland-born Eugen Polański, are currently five points safe from the relegation playoff - however, a defeat to Wolfsburg and a St. Pauli win against a potentially relegated 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 side, would put them in a very difficult situation as they would be directly involved in the relegation battle with three matches remaining.

Gladbach have only won three of their fifteen matches since the start of the 2026 calendar year - two of which were coincidentally one-goal victories against St. Pauli and Union Berlin. They have gone winless in their last nine matches (0-3-6), which is their longest winless streak since April 2024 - also coincidentally, that streak came to an end through a 3-1 victory at Volkswagen Arena.

Statistically, in terms of shots on target per 90 minutes, Gladbach are at 4.17 whereas Wolfsburg are at a slightly lower 3.97; both are in the bottom-six in the Bundesliga in this regard. Gladbach may be looking to play a midfield game, as they have the second-best interception total in the league (287) compared to a mid-table Wolfsburg (251) in this category.

One player that both sides will be keeping an eye on is Swiss-born Bosnian forward Haris Tabaković - who has 11 goals and 2 assists in 29 appearances this season. Tabaković has recently been linked to a move to Wolfsburg in the summer transfer window, and this is an opportunity for Die Wölfe to see how he fares against their current lineup.

Team News:

The list of injuries for Borussia Mönchengladbach is very short, with only three to report for this weekend.

German forward Jan Urbich (strain) remains absent week-to-week after picking up an injury last month. Cameroonian forward Nathan N’Goumou (Achilles tendon) will be absent until the final week of the season, as will be the case for German striker Tim Kleindienst (knee).

Projected Lineup (3-5-2): Nicolas - Diks, Elvedi, Sander - Castrop, Stöger, Engelhardt, Reitz, Scally - Tabaković, Bolin.