New boy Julian Draxler scored the only goal in Wolfsburg's 1-0 Champions League victory over CSKA Moskva on Wednesday night to open up group play. Now, Dieter Hecking will have to switch his side's attention back to league play where they will face a surprisingly strong Hertha BSC.
Form
The two clubs facing each other today have gotten off to good starts but it is today's hosts who have had the better start by not losing a full three points so far in their campaign -- in all competitions. Their best result of the Bundesliga season thus far would be their 3-0 defeat of Schalke. In this fixture, which was expected to be fairly close, the hosts dominated throughout.
Wolfsburg maintained close to 60% of the possession, and while managing to get only four shots on target, 75% of the found their way into the back of the net. Bas Dost and Timm Klose scored from open play while Ricardo Rodriguez slotted home from 12 yards out to round of this resounding victory against a side that is supposed to be decent.
Many thought that at the beginning of the season that Hertha were going to be one of the clubs hovering right around the relegation zone. As for right now though, Pál Dárdai's men have been punching above their expectations, losing just to Borussia Dortmund and sitting in eighth tied with a few clubs other clubs on seven points.
30-year-old Ivorian striker Salomon Kalou leads the side in scoring with two -- three in all competitions -- and a few others have chipped in as well. The only worrisome thing is that the blue and whites seem to not score more than two goals in match.
Key Players
Now that Kevin De Bruyne is back in England, it will be up to fellow ex-Chelsea footballer, André Schürrle. While he is not much of a goal scorer, he does provide dangerous crosses into the penalty area where he can the likes of Bas Dost and company making darting runs to get on the end of them. If Schürrle can get his confidence back then the 24-year-old will surely be able to help his club get back to one of the Champions League spots for the next campaign.
On deadline day, Hertha acquired the services of Bosnian striker Vedad Ibišević from Stuttgart for the entire season. He has been unable to find his scoring touch for his parent club, mainly because he had fallen down the pecking order. His best ever season though was with Hoffenheim, back in 2008/09, where he netted an amazing 18 goals in league play. Ibišević has not scored that many since but if given good service into the box, he will only need an inch of space to smash the ball beyond the goal keeper.
Prediction
The hosts should be able to find a way past a very stout defensive team in Hertha. Die Wölfe have too much about them for the visitors to really give them much of a trouble on both the offensive and defensive side of the pitch.