The 2023-24 Bundesliga begins this weekend, with Wolfsburg hosting newly-promoted Heidenheim on Saturday.
The Wolves enjoyed a strong opening season under Niko Kovac's management, while Heidenheim won the second tier for the first time in their history in dramatic style.
Match preview
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Indeed, after enduring a difficult 12th-placed finish in the previous season, Wolfsburg bounced back from a slow start under Kovac to ultimately end up in eighth position.
Kovac failed to win any of his opening five games in charge of the Wolves, but a six-match winning streak either side of the winter World Cup saw them catapult up the table among the European qualification spots.
However, three defeats from the final four games of the campaign ultimately meant that they missed out on qualifying for Europe, with their final-day defeat at home to an already-relegated Hertha Berlin outfit particularly galling given that even a point would have seen them reach the Europa League.
Still, Kovac may view his side's reduced fixture schedule as a blessing in disguise as they aim to return to the Champions League, although those aspirations could prove difficult after selling Micky van de Ven and Felix Nmecha to Tottenham Hotspur and Borussia Dortmund respectively.
Felix's brother Lukas Nmecha opened the scoring against fifth division side Makkabi in the opening round of the DFB-Pokal on Sunday, with new signing Tiago Tomas bagging a brace on debut during the comfortable 6-0 win. Kovac will be hoping for more of the same on Saturday.
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Heidenheim, meanwhile, will be making their Bundesliga debut when they arrive in Lower Saxony this weekend, having lifted the Bundesliga 2 title last time out.
Having been led by Frank Schmidt since 2007, with the former Greuther Furth defender guiding them all of the way from the fourth tier to the promised land, Heidenheim are one of the most romantic stories currently existing in modern football.
Their final day of last season certainly felt like something from a movie. Trailing Jahn Regensburg 2-1 in injury-time, Schmidt's side needed to find two goals in order to leapfrog Hamburger SV into the automatic qualification positions, and they duly found them through Jan-Niklas Beste's 93rd-minute penalty and Tim Kleindienst's 99th-minute winner.
As such, they avoided having to go through the process of the dreaded playoff for the second time in four seasons, and instead ended up lifting the title in the most dramatic circumstances imaginable.
Like their forthcoming opponents, Heidenheim kicked off their domestic season by drubbing lowly-ranked opponents in the DFB-Pokal on Sunday, with fifth-tier side Rostocker FC handed an 8-0 pasting. Schmidt and his players will be acutely aware that they will face a much tougher at the Volkswagen Arena on Saturday.
Team News
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Wolfsburg appear to be heading into the season with plenty of injury problems, with the likes of Kilian Fischer, Sebastiaan Bornauw, Pavao Pervan, Lukas Ambros, Felix Lange and Kevin Paredes all expected to miss out on Saturday.
Denmark international Joakim Maehle made his debut for the club against Makkabi after joining from Atalanta BC, and he should retain his place at right-back to appear in the Bundesliga for the first time, while Maximilian Arnold is likely to start after only being used from the bench.
Heidenheim, on the other hand, have no reported injuries at present, allowing Schmidt to select whatever he considers to be his strongest starting XI.
New signings Eren Dinkci and Marvin Pieringer both scored on their debuts against Rostocker, having joined last season's hero Kleindienst in an attacking formation. Kevin Sessa provides a central midfield option should Schmidt wish to shore up that area of the pitch.
Wolfsburg possible starting lineup:
Casteels; Maehle, Lacroix, Zesiger, Baku; Arnold, Svanberg, Gerhardt; Wimmer, Nmecha, Kaminski
Heidenheim possible starting lineup:
Muller; Busch, Mainka, Siersleben, Fohrenbach; Sessa, Maloney; Beck, Beste; Pieringer, Kleindienst
We say: Wolfsburg 3-1 Heidenheim
Heidenheim will be immensely motivated for this match given that it will be their first ever Bundesliga match in the club's history, but it could prove to be a rude awakening for them regarding the amount of quality at this level.
While we expect Wolfsburg to be worked hard for their victory, Kovac's side became an increasingly solid team as last season wore on, and they will hope to qualify for Europe this time around.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Brett Curtis
