Wolfsburg winger Julian Draxler. (Photo : Getty Images)
Perennial contenders VfL Wolfsburg (1-2-2, 5 points) and middling club FSV Mainz 05 (2-2-1, 7 points) are scheduled to take on one another at the Volkswagen Arena on Sunday, Oct. 2 for a 2016-2017 Bundesliga season encounter.
Start Time and Streaming Info
The game starts at 9:30 a.m. ET. It can be viewed live online thru FuboTV.
Wolfsburg, who are five points short of a Europa League berth last season, had been struggling again this term. After winning their season-opener against Augsburg, 2-0, the team is now on a four-game winless spell which includes two straight losses in the last couple of rounds.
Die Wölfe is coming off a stunning 1-2 upset loss to erstwhile winless and bottom three squad Werder Bremen at the Weser-Stadion last Saturday, as per Sporting Life.
An own goal by Bremen defender Robert Bauer broke the deadlock and gave Wolfsburg the lead late at the 69th minute.
However, Die Werderaner was able to score two goals in the final moments of the match, courtesy of forward Lennart Thy and defender Theodor Gebre Selassie at the 86th minute and in injury time, to deny the visitors of their second win this season.
With their recent struggles, head coach Dieter Hecking's squad is settled at the 13th place of the German top flight table.
Meanwhile, Mainz had been inconsistent in their first five games with two wins, two losses, and a draw.
Die Nullfünfer was nipped by a Javier Hernandez-led Bayer Leverkusen XI, 3-2, at their home field of Coface Arena last Saturday as their three-game unbeaten run was snapped, ESPN reported.
Turkish midfielder Yunus Malli netted the game's opening goal at the 31st before Hernandez scored his first goal just a minute later to even the count at 1-1.
German center back Stefan Bell then grabbed the lead for the hosts at the 35th with a left-footed close range shot from a corner kick by Malli.
However, Hernandez went mad in the second half, scoring two goals at the 66th and 90th+2 minutes to take away the win from Mainz.
Prediction and Predicted Lineup
The predicted result is a tough 1-0 win by Wolfsburg.
Wolfsburg starting lineup (4-1-4-1 formation): Casteels; Vieirinha, Bruma, Wollscheid, Horn; Arnold; Blaszczykowski, Seguin, Gerhardt, Draxler; Gomez
Mainz starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Lossl; Donati, Bell, Balogun, Bussmann; Brosinski, Frei; Oztunali, Malli, De Blasis; Cordoba
