A very impressive start to the year saw Edin Terzic’s side take a place in the top four, and they extended their gap to fifth place at RB Leipzig last weekend.
Four wins from five Bundesliga games have seen Dortmund put together a lackluster first half of the season, three things off the Champions League places.
The recipe for their good luck in 2024 is in attack, as in their 4 wins so far BVB have scored 3 or more goals, with the only exception being a defeat against the tricky Heidenheim.
Dortmund bounced back comfortably from that 0-0 draw on the road against Freiburg last weekend, beating fellow Europeans Freiburg 3-0 at Signal Iduna Park.
Leipzig’s draw at Augsburg allowed them to regain their three-point lead against Die Roten Bullen, but Dortmund are struggling to catch up with a team in perfect form: third-placed Stuttgart.
The match also represents a chance for Dortmund to equal a club record from 30 years ago, as it may be the first time since 1994 that they have kept 4 consecutive blank sheets away from home in the Bundesliga.
It would be the best preparation for the Netherlands to face PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League in midweek.
Wolfsburg is a team against whom Dortmund have also enjoyed dominant good fortune for nearly a decade, having won 15 of the last 17 meetings and scored 46 in that time.
Wolfsburg have lost 6-0 and 6-1 in the past two years, but the hosts won in this match last season – their victory over Dortmund since 2015.
A win is all the Wolves still have to achieve to achieve in 2024; They have fallen to 12th place.
Three consecutive 1-1 draws at the start of the year were followed by a draw against Hoffenheim, where they had to come from behind twice.
But last weekend they left empty-handed after Union Berlin conceded Niko Kovac’s best of men, thanks to a singular goal from Danilho Doekhi in the 26th minute of first-half stoppage time.
The result means that, for the first time under Kovac’s reign, Wolfsburg have gone six games without a win, and if that streak extends to seven here, it will be the worst start to a calendar year since 1998.
Despite the drop, Wolfsburg remain in a relative position, seven points above the relegation zone, but their momentum towards Europe appears to be fading, with a nine-point gap to Eintracht Frankfurt.
The club will always have more than one eye on their shoulder, as these are the lowest problems overall they have recorded since 2016-17, when they needed a relegation playoff until the autumn.
It is possible that Wolfsburg will welcome back several first-team players before this clash, after a long list of absences in recent weeks.
Goalkeeper Koen Casteels has returned to training after a back injury, but it is not yet known if he will be fit, while Tiago Tomas is also back with his teammates after an elbow injury.
Elsewhere, Aster Vranckx will return to the national team following a quadriceps injury, but Rogerio is still out for the hosts.
Illness meant Dortmund midfielder Salih Ozcan missed Freiburg’s win but he may be fit to return here after Marco Reus, Gregor Kobel and Julian Ryerson all recovered from a similar virus last week.
Ramy Bensebaini himself is ill and will likely be absent, while Felix Nmecha is not yet fit to recover from a hip injury and his brother Lukas Nmecha is also absent from Wolfsburg.
Sebastian Haller is back after Africa Cup of Nations glory, but Terzic has revealed that he has been suffering from physical problems lately, while fellow striker Karim Adeyemi is out after suffering a new injury this week. Baku, Lacroix, Jenz, Maehle; Majer, Svanberg, Arnold, Vranckx; Behrens, wind
Possible Borussia Dortmund XI: Kobel; Ryerson, Sule, Schlotterbeck, Maatsen; Sabitzer, Can, Brandt; Malen, Fullkrug, Sancho
Dortmund have been doing very well in 2024, and with an almost full squad available for Terzic, it is possible that he will cause even more angst for Wolfsburg here.
Already in the midst of a six-game winless run, Kovac may have hardly asked for more difficult and demanding situations to avoid that run, and Wolfsburg’s abysmal record against Dortmund further reduces his chances of good luck here. Please click here.