Wolfsburg in Hoffenheim assignment as Bayern seek to rebound: Frauen-Bundesliga Week Two Preview
Elsewhere, North Rhine-Westphalia rivals Bayer Leverkusen and FC Köln clash in the Rhenish derby in this second week of the Frauen-Bundesliga
Wolfsburg will be looking to make it two victories on the trot when they play guests to last season’s fifth place holders Hoffenheim at the PreZero Arena in Sinsheim on Saturday.
Bouncy following their empathic 4-0 win over SGS Essen at home last weekend, Wolfsburg will, however, quickly feel the need for caution when they approach Gabor Gallai’s side who lost only five matches last season.
Wolfsburg otherwise pose a much bigger threat in this campaign of the Bundesliga with 10 UEFA Women’s EUROs finalists in their squad, namely Merle Frohms, Kathrin Hendrich, Marina Hegering, Felicitas Rauch, Lena Lattwein, Lena Oberdorf, Svenja Huth, Jule Brand, Alexandra Popp and Tabea Waßmuth. Hoffenheim, on the other hand, have only three, namely Martina Tufekovic, Jana Feldkamp and Fabienne Dongus.
Die Kraichgauer, who are coming from a disappointing 3-1 defeat to FC Köln in the Bundesliga first match last Sunday, will be banking on the services of German forward Melissa Kössler who scored their only goal in their 3-1 defeat last weekend. The visitors, on the other hand, will turn to the services of striker Ewa Pajor, who scored a brace in their 4-0 win over Essen last weekend and is already joint-top scorer in the current Bundesliga campaign, and forwards Tabea Waßmuth and Alexandra Popp who each also found the back of the net last weekend.
Popp, who recently extended her Wolfsburg contract to 2025, showed great form at the UEFA Women’s EUROs in July becoming the second top scorer at the tournament with six goals and will be looking to bring that energy into the new Bundesliga season.
The hosts will be without Feldkamp who was shown a straight red card during their 3-1 defeat to FC Köln last weekend.
Wolfsburg sit first on the Bundesliga log on three points whilst Hoffenheim sit 11th on zero points.
Elsewhere, Bayern Munich look to bounce back from a disappointing nil-all draw with Eintracht Frankfurt away last week when they host Werder Bremen on Sunday.
Effervescent following their 1-0 home win over Spanish side Real Sociedad in the UEFA Women’s Champions League (UWCL) on Tuesday, the Bavarians will look to quickly return to winning ways in a league which they lost the title by a mere four points last season. The visitors, on the other hand, will be looking to bounce back from a one-all draw with Potsdam last weekend.
The Munich side will look up to striker Lea Schüller, who scored their only goal in their 1-0 UWCL win midweek and was also last season’s Bundesliga top scorer with 16 goals, and midfielder Lina Magull, who will also be buoyed by her top performance at the UEFA Women’s EUROs in July which saw her become fourth top scorer at the tournament.
Bayern sit seventh on the standings on one point whilst Werder Bremen sit sixth also on one point.
Bayer Leverkusen will look to make it two out of two when they host FC Köln in a Rhenish derby clash on Friday evening.
Eager to build on their 1-0 win over Duisburg last Sunday, the hosts will unleash midfielder Jill Baijings who scored the solitary goal in their last match which was marred by wasted opportunities. The visitors, on the other hand, are afloat following a 3-1 win over Hoffenheim and will be looking to build momentum with a win over last season’s seventh place holders.
Leverkusen are fourth on the standings on three points whilst Köln, also on three points, are second on superior goal difference.
Freiburg look to echo their previous performance with a win when they host Frankfurt on Sunday.
The hosts edged Bundesliga newcomers Meppen 2-1 away last weekend and the last season’s sixth place holders will be looking to build on the victory albeit against very difficult opponents in Frankfurt whilst the visitors will look to rebound from a nil-all draw against former champions Bayern Munich.
Freiburg sit third on the standings on three points whilst Frankfurt sit eighth on one point.
Potsdam host newcomers Duisburg at home on Sunday.
The hosts will be looking to shake off a disappointing one-all draw with Werder Bremen last weekend whilst the visitors will be hoping to quickly learn the Bundesliga ropes following a 1-0 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen last weekend.
Potsdam occupy sixth place on the standings on one point whilst Duisburg are 10th on zero points.
Essen entertain Meppen on Sunday.
Both bottom-of-the-log Essen and ninth place Meppen will be looking for their first wins of the season after last weekend’s 4-0 defeat to Wolfsburg and 2-1 defeat to Freiburg respectively.
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FIXTURES (Friday): Bayer Leverkusen vs. FC Köln (19:15)
FIXTURES (Saturday): Hoffenheim vs. VfL Wolfsburg (17:55)
FIXTURES (Sunday): Potsdam vs. Duisburg (13:00); Bayern Munich vs. Werder Bremen (13:00); Freiburg vs. Frankfurt (16:00); SGS Essen vs. Meppen (16:00)
All times are Central European Time (CET)