VfL Wolfsburg host Hannover 96 in the Lower Saxony derby on Saturday (kick-off 15:30 CEST). The Wolves are aiming to climb back into the European places while the visitors are fighting for survival, but table positions carry little importance when it comes to local derbies – as the Green-Whites have already discovered once this season. Here’s a round-up of the key facts and figures ahead of the meeting:
- The Wolves are out for revenge after their 2-1 defeat in the reverse fixture. Goals from Linton Maina (31’) and Ihlas Bebou (61’) put 96 in charge, and although VfL reduced the deficit through Wout Weghorst’s late penalty, they couldn’t find an equaliser.
- The overall head-to-head records favours VfL. In 31 Bundesliga encounters, the Wolves have triumphed in almost half (15) while there have been 10 victories for Hannover and six draws.
- Although VfL have only lost one of their last seven Bundesliga home games (the 3-0 defeat to Bayer 04 Leverkusen), they are yet to record back-to-back wins at home this season. Another note of caution: Hannover are unbeaten in five visits to the Volkswagen Arena since their 4-1 loss in November 2011.
- On this occasion, the Wolves welcome a Hannover side in turmoil. With 14 points from 27 matches, this is currently the club’s worst ever campaign in the top flight.
- Wolves winger Felix Klaus spent three years with Hannover, experiencing relegation at the end of the 2015/16 season and then promotion back to the Bundesliga the following year, before moving to Wolfsburg last summer.
- Counter-attacks and tackling could be two key elements in this contest. The Wolves have bagged 10 goals on the counter so far this season – only Eintracht Frankfurt have managed more. However, they’ll need to be prepared for a battle against Hannover, who have averaged 222 challenges per game this term, a number only bettered by RB Leipzig.
