Wolfsburg winger Andre Schurrle. (Photo : Getty Images)
Middling teams Hamburger SV (10-14-8, 38 points) and VfL Wolfsburg (10-13-9, 39 points) are scheduled to square off at the Imtech Arena on May 7th, Saturday as the 2015-2016 Bundesliga season comes down to its final couple of matchdays.
Wolfsburg forced a 1-1 draw with Hamburg during the two team's first meeting this season at the Volkswagen Arena on December 12th. Hamburg's Nicolai Müller scored the first goal at the 21st minute while Maximilian Arnold tied the count in the 78th. The same hard-fought match is expected in this second meeting.
Die Rothosen settled for a 0-0 tie with contending side Mainz 05 at the Coface Arena last Saturday for their second straight unbeaten game "despite the best efforts of both sides", as reported by Vavel.
It was a comeback streak for head coach Bruno Labbadia's team as they pulled it off coming from a two-game losing skid.
However, the draw did not do anything to further the team's aspirations for a Europa League slot as they are still eight points below their opponents, who are currently holding the final berth in the said continental competitions.
Meanwhile, Wolfsburg is on a six-game winless slide which dropped them from being one of the contenders for a Champions League or Europa League berth to currently 10th place in the overall standings. The team is safe from relegation with only two games left in this term as they are six points above the relegation area.
Die Wölfe was blown out by second-running team Borussia Dortmund, 1-5, in their most recent game held at the Signal Iduna Park, as per Goal.
Winger Andre Schurrle netted the lone goal for Dieter Hecking's squad four minutes before full time as Dortmund already built a 5-0 lead by that time.
Shinji Kagawa scored at the seventh, Adrian Ramos at the ninth, Marco Reus at the 59th, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang came off the bench to net a double late in the match, at the 77th and 78th minutes.
The predicted result is a 2-1 victory for Wolfsburg.
Hamburg starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Drobny; Sakai, Djourou, Spahic, Ostrzolek; Kacar, Holtby; Bahoui, Hunt, Ilicevic; Schipplock
Wolfsburg starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Benaglio; Trasch, Naldo, Knoche, Schafer; Guilavogui, Gustavo; Caligiuri, Arnold, Schurrle; Dost
