Nurnberg vs Wolfsburg Predictions

Newly promoted Nurnberg head into this off the back of another hard to swallow defeat. Der Club were defeated to nil away to what is arguably one of the weakest Bayern Munich sides we’ve seen in recent years – in fact, other promotees Fortuna Dusseldorf took a 3-3 draw away from the Allianz Arena in Bayern’s last home league outing – and that result sees them with just three points from their last eight Bundesliga outings – a league-low. It hasn’t been all bad, though. Nurnberg drew 1-1 at home to Leverkusen the Monday before that -a respectable result. However, a number of huge defeats – notably, against Borussia Dortmund (a 7-0 defeat) and RB Leipzig (a 6-0 defeat) – shows how black and white their performances have been.

Opponents Wolfsburg couldn’t be further from that. Whatever coach Bruno Labaddia worked on over the international break seems to have paid off. His side head into this unbeaten in three across a number of difficult fixtures, beating RB Leipzig (1-0), ending their 10-match unbeaten run, and Eintracht Frankfurt (2-1), doing the same for the Eagles’ seven-match streak, while also drawing 2-2 at home to the ever-dangerous Hoffenheim last weekend. Admir Mehmedi’s return from injury has been a huge boost and he adds creativity to the midfield behind forwards Ginczek and Weghorst – he assisted the former on Saturday. Wolfsburg’s front two have scored 8 of the their last 14 goals, a number made only more impressive when looking at some of the opponents they’ve faced over the past weeks (Bayern Munich among them).

With Wolfsburg in good shape and Nurnberg far from it, we feel this looks set to go one way. And we see Wolfsburg being a good bet to win for the following reasons: Nurnberg don’t have the worst form at home for a newly promoted side (W2 D3 L2), but their poor underlying numbers in front of goal will start to hinder their chances of maintaining that record in the coming weeks. Only Stuttgart (14) have taken fewer shots on target at home than Nurnberg (24), and Wolfsburg’s improved defensive form – they’ve conceded just three goals over their last three outings against RB Leipzig, Frankfurt, and Hoffenheim – will no doubt play a crucial role in this game. And that’s even before we go into the return of Wolfsburg’s key defenders John Anthony Brooks and William from suspension.

Wolfsburg themselves have good numbers on the road too. Three wins, one draw and two defeats from their six Bundesliga away days sees them 5th overall in the away table, and they’ve even got a game in hand on the teams above them. Labbadia’s men have also won three of their last four away days across all competitions (one away to top flight side Hannover in the DFB Pokal and two in the league), scoring at least two goals in each – they are in-form travellers. Wolfsburg rank in the top half for shots on target away from home (31) too, above even league leaders Borussia Dortmund (30), and the form of their forwards and midfielder Mehmedi should only see these numbers rise against the Bundesliga’s worst defense on Friday – no team has conceded more goals this season than Nurnberg (33). Our prediction: a 2-0 Wolfsburg win.