The Green-and-Whites are on a roll – after a 2-1 win at home to Bochum, they confirmed their run of form with a victory away to SC Freiburg, taking a huge step towards maintaining their top-flight status in the process. Saturday 4 May (kick-off 15:30 CEST at the Volkswagen Arena) sees them looking to make it three wins in a row with the visit of SV Darmstadt 98 – a team for whom relegation has already been confirmed. With only three wins and 17 points all season, Darmstadt find themselves propping up the rest of the Bundesliga. VfL won the meeting between the two teams 1-0 earlier in the season and will be looking for another three points to pull clear of the drop zone.
More facts and figures
- History in favour of VfL: VfL and Darmstadt have only faced one another on eight occasions, with the Wolves winning five and losing two. The last time that Darmstadt defeated the Green-and-Whites was in 2016.
- Third time for Behrens: Kevin Behrens will be facing Darmstadt for the third time this season, having twice beaten them handily while with Union Berlin (4-1 and 4-0). The striker scored one of those eight goals.
- Defender with an eye for goal: With four goals to his name, Maxence Lacroix is one of the most prolific defenders in the Bundesliga this season.
- Set-piece specialists: Maximilian Arnold has found the back of the net from distance in the Bundesliga on 19 occasions, including nine direct free-kicks. Since he made his German top-flight debut in November 2011, no other player has scored more goals from distance, with only Hakan Calhanoglu converting more free-kicks
- Defensive frailties: In their promotion campaign last season, Darmstadt conceded the fewest goals (33) of all 56 professional clubs. This season, they have shipped the most (73).
- Handy against promoted sides: Wolfsburg have picked up seven of nine available points this season against the two promoted teams (Heidenheim: 2-0, 1-1; Darmstadt: 1-0).
- Relegation confirmed: Darmstadt have ended up going down at the end of four of their five Bundesliga seasons (1979, 1982, 2017 and 2024). 2016 is the only time that they managed to avoid relegation, when coach Dirk Schuster steered them to 14th spot.
