RB Leipzig vs. VfL Wolfsburg preview: Fourth from top host fourth from bottom

RB Leipzig (12-3-6, 4th) host VfL Wolfsburg (5-4-12, 15th) in the twenty-second matchweek of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season. Kickoff at Red Bull Arena is set for Sunday, 17:30 (CET).

RB LEIPZIG

Fourth in the table and nine points clear of seventh place, RB Leipzig (12-3-6, 4th) are all in on qualification for European competition – however, recent results have not been the most consistent, with four potential points dropped against bottom-half sides in FC St. Pauli and 1. FSV Mainz 05, as well as an 0-2 DFB-Pokal exit to FC Bayern München in the middle of the week.

This is the first of two home matches in a row, but Leipzig will need to take all three points from this one to maintain some form of consistency – as second-place Borussia Dortmund are the opponents in the primetime match next Saturday. Fortunately for the hosts, they have won four of the last five meetings between the two sides (4-1-0), including all of the last three by one-goal scorelines.

One of those victories came under current head coach Ole Werner, who joined the club in June on a contract until 2027 after leaving the coaching post at SV Werder Bremen. Werner was asked about Wolfsburg and the competitiveness that Die Wölfe will bring to this match.

“Wolfsburg have a very experienced team, particularly in the key areas,” the 37-year-old from Preetz, Schleswig-Holstein said. “They are good on the ball in midfield, dangerous from set pieces and look to attack with speed and score goals. I think their new coach has a clear footballing philosophy.”

Werner continued by saying: “You always have to assume that the opponent will perform as well as they possibly can. We won’t be gifted anything – the most important thing is that we are on top of our game. We want to bring good energy onto the pitch; if we do that, we are very confident that we can defeat them.”

“You always have to assume that the opponent is having their best day and bringing their full quality to the pitch. That is why it is so important that you look after yourself and your own quality, yes? That will always be the first thing that people look at. This [Wolfsburg] is an experienced team, a team that has high individual quality.”

“Once again, I am too far removed to judge in detail why they did not convert their matches into points – but the fact is, we know that this is a team that can hurt any team in the league and can basically defeat any team. We saw that in the return match, we saw that against Dortmund. Football is a game of effectiveness and small moments, and we have to do everything to create those moments tomorrow,” he concluded.

Regarding his squad, Werner said: “In terms of personnel, we will have the same players available as we do from München. We will see exactly how we make the squad composition tomorrow – we have our regular practice tomorrow, and it is important for us to get another impression now, at the end of an English Week [German term, three matches in a single week] of how our players have fared individually.”

“It is important for us to bring good energy on the field in our home match to conclude this week, to be intense against a team that is very experienced, good at set pieces, has good structure with the ball. We just have to be aggressive from the first moment and have good changes in pace ourselves, to cover some of the spaces – especially along the back line … that is what we are preparing for, we have already done it today and will continue with it tomorrow,” he concluded.

Team News

Leipzig face just three injuries and a suspension for this weekend’s match.

The suspended player is captain David Raum, as the 27-year-old German left midfielder / left-back picked up his fifth yellow card of the 2025/26 campaign in a 2-1 victory in Köln this past Sunday. “David Raum is our captain. He is a true leader and a key player who gives us energy and quality. We will of course miss him, but it is normal for a defender to receive a suspension like this during the course of a season. That means there will have to be a few changes, but we have good players who can come into the side,” Werner said, before stating that Max Finkgräfe will likely take Raum’s place at LB.

Dutch winger Ayodele Thomas (muscle), who joined the club from PSV in the winter transfer window, will be absent for an undefined period. German central midfielder Forzan Assan Ouedraogo (knee) will not play until late March, and German midfielder Viggo Gebel (cruciate ligament), who has not played a senior Bundesliga match since April of last year, will be absent until the start of the 2026/27 season.

Brajan Gruda is projected to make his second appearance for RB Leipzig after joining the Sachsen club in the winter transfer window on a five-month loan from Brighton & Hove Albion FC.

Projected XI (4-3-3): Gulácsi – Finkgräfe, Lukeba, Orbán, Henrichs – Baumgartner, Seiwald, Gruda – Nusa, Rômulo, Diomande.

VFL WOLFSBURG

After a last-minute defeat to Borussia Dortmund on a Serhou Guirassy goal from the left side of the penalty area, VfL Wolfsburg (5-4-12, 15th) face another top-five team in the Bundesliga for a second consecutive week.

Like Leipzig, Daniel Bauer’s Wölfe have also struggled to pick up points since the start of the new year. The club has won just one of its six matches in 2026, a late result against FC St. Pauli – and have only four points of a potential eighteen, with disappointing results against teams of their calibre, as well as two defeats to Bayern and Dortmund in which they were outscored 2-10.

With thirteen matches remaining in the 2025/26 season, Wolfsburg are a full seventeen points out of European competition – meaning that the focus is now on relegation survival. Every match is an opportunity to pick up three more points to survive the drop zone, but this week will be a difficult one for Wolfsburg to pick up three points from – and especially when the club is 0-0-8 against teams in the top seven.

“We were extremely close against Dortmund,” Bauer said in a press conference following training at Volkswagen Arena on Friday. “We actually deserved the lucky punch – which is rare, I think everyone agreed after the match. That is exactly how we need to continue, I believe that the return match against Leipzig was a very similar scenario. Unfortunately, I was not there to watch it live back then [Paul Simonis was the coach at the time], but I rewatched it in retrospect.”

“We have often come close, and that is precisely the problem for us at the moment: we are not winning the matches, and that is something we need to change … the goal is to become more cold-blooded and more effective at the front, while at the same time allowing even less at the back than we have recently.”

One journalist claimed during the press conference that Bauer uses match clips as motivation, and asked about whether the 5-1 win at Red Bull Arena in November 2024, the club’s most recent win against Leipzig, was used for this purpose. “Past results have played no such role this week, because we are currently more focused on the here and now – it was important to take things from the Dortmund match and encourage the team on that”, Bauer said.

Bauer followed by adding: “How can I motivate the team right now? It [the videos] could sometimes be perhaps as a supplement. I would like to actively address this again: I think it was said on TV once again that no one cares about Wolfsburg anyway, honestly that is exciting as motivation for the boys”.

Team News

The list of injuries and absences is becoming quite long for VfL Wolfsburg. Currently, four players are absent due to illnesses, and another nine are either confirmed to be injured or leaving staff concerned about whether they might make the squad for this weekend.

In a press conference on Friday, Daniel Bauer said to the media that American left-back/left winger Kevin Paredes and Danish winger Jesper Lindstrøm were absent from training due to illnesses. “We hope that they will be back with the team for another round of training tomorrow,” the 43-year-old from Andernach, Rheinland-Pfalz said. French right-back Saël Kumbedi and Brazilian defensive midfielder Vinícius Souza may also be absent from this match for the same reason, listed as doubtful for Sunday.

Bauer added that Austrian winger Patrick Wimmer (muscle) is recovering from his injury and that he was involved in training today, completing certain drills. German left-back Aaron Zehnter appears to be having some concerns on the training ground – Bauer stated that “it will be very tight for Sunday, but fortunately there is nothing structural and he worked individually today”.

Danish left-back Joakim Mæhle (shoulder), German right-back Kilian Fischer (thigh), Brazilian centre-back Cleiton Santos (ankle), and Danish forward Jonas Wind (hip) are all set to return to the squad within the next two weeks. Dutch centre-back Jenson Seelt (knee) is planned to return in the middle of March, and Brazilian defender Rogério (unknown) is set to return at the end of March.

Regarding the injury to Fischer, Bauer said: “Once again, the best wishes for a speedy recovery to Kilian Fischer. He came through the operation well – that was the most important thing. Starting next week, he can really get going with his rehab … and anyone who knows Kili knows that he will work very hard there.”

Hungarian midfielder Bence Dárdai (cruciate ligament) remains the only major long-term injury for the club, as he is unable to return to the squad until the start of the 2026/27 season.

Projected XI (4-2-3-1): Grabara – Belocian, Koulierakis, Vavro, Kumbedi – Arnold, Eriksen – Amoura, Majer, Daghim – Pejčinović.