Leverkusen and Freiburg host in-form 2.Bundesliga sides Nürnberg and Wolfsburg

Here’s our preview for the meetings of Leverkusen vs. Nürnberg and Freiburg vs. Wolfsburg in the DFB-Pokal second round on Wednesday evening.

Bayer Leverkusen vs. 1.FC Nürnberg preview:

After a setback in the Bundesliga last weekend, Bayer Leverkusen will be hoping to return to winning ways as they take on second division side 1.FC Nürnberg at 20:45 CET on Wednesday evening at the BayArena. 

The 3-0 defeat to TSG Hoffenheim, however, came with an added price. Carles Martínez confirmed that Moussa Diaby and Loïc Bade will be out for the time being. They join both Martin Terrier and Christian Kofane on the sidelines. 

Regardless, Leverkusen will fancy their chances of progressing having won their first round game 4-0 against Wehen Wiesbaden. Unless Miroslav Klose’s high-flying side have anything to say about it, given they sit second in the 2.Bundesliga after nine games. 

They too come into this cup clash on the back of a bitter first loss of the campaign, pipped 1-0 by 1.FC Kaiserslautern at home. Nürnberg also required penalties to overcome Viktoria Köln (5-4) back in August to reach this stage after a 1-1 draw over 120 minutes.

Predicted lineups:

Bayer Leverkusen (4-2-3-1): Blaswich – Quansah, Tapsoba, Medina, Gutierrez – Garcia, Fernandez – Tella, Tillman, Maza – Schick

1.FC Nürnberg (4-2-3-1): Reichert – Janish, Kalogeropoulos, Mkrtchyan, Porstner – Markhiev, Fernandez – Ghrieb, Justvan, Lubach – Scobel

SC Freiburg vs. VfL Wolfsburg preview:

SC Freiburg will be relieved to see the back of the Bundesliga for the time being, with Sunday’s meeting with Bayern Munich yielding a 3-1 loss. Hosting VfL Wolfsburg in the DfB Pokal tomorrow at 20:45 CET will be a fresh start.

Julian Schuster’s men ought to not be disheartened given they still sit third in the topflight on 13 points. They also swept Fortuna Düsseldorf aside 5-1 in the first round in August and only have Yannick Engelhardt as a doubt for Wednesday night.

VfL Wolfsburg are yet another club who are right amongst the early frontrunners for promotion in the 2. Bundesliga. Sitting fourth, a couple points off second, with a quartet of wins and draws alongside a solitary defeat, they have been a hard nut to crack. 

Recent history hasn’t treated the Autostadt club well against the Breisgauers, with four losses in their last four meetings. In the first round, Altglienicke pushed them all the way to penalties, so Tobias Strobel’s side need to turn up even without the injured Matthias Svanberg.

Predicted lineups:

SC Freiburg (4-3-3-1): Müller – Kübler, Rosenfelder, Lienhart, Günter – Eggestein, Osterhage – Beste, Suzuki, Grifo – Matanovic

VfL Wolfsburg (4-2-3-1): Wellenreuther – Kumbedi, Wahl, Cleiton, Maehle – Gerhardt, Vinicius – Bernhardsson, Damar, Besio – Glatzel