Bornauw and Arnold confirmed outs for Wolfsburg against Bochum

VfL Wolfsburg captain Maximilian Arnold and defender Sebastiaan Bornauw are confirmed outs for the team’s upcoming weekend fixture against VfL Bochum. 

Back problems will sideline VfL Wolfsburg skipper Maximilian Arnold this weekend from his team’s trip to Bochum. This was confirmed by VfL trainer Niko Kovac at his Friday presser. Kovac also announced that central defender Sebastiaan Bornauw will be unavailable with “thigh issues”. There was some good news to report in that lead-striker Jonas Wind was, in Kovac’s words, “100 percent fit” after shaking off a midweek battle with illness.

Arnold’s absence likely doesn’t alter Kovac’s plan for the midfield. The 29-year-old – the subject of controversial rotations in his coach’s double-six-set – didn’t start in Wolfsburg’s most recent league encounter against Leipzig. Aster Vranckx and Mathias Svanberg will presumably handle the axis together once again.

Bornauw had started Wolfsburg’s last three league fixtures in addition to featuring in the XI that defeated Leipzig in the most recent DFB Pokal round. Kovac nevertheless has plenty of other central defenders on his roster to call upon. Moritz Jenz serves as the most likely replacement, irrespective of whether Kovac opts for a back-three or back-four.

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