Two sides seeking strong fresh start

1. FC Heidenheim 1846 and VfL Wolfsburg start their 2025/26 Bundesliga campaigns at the Voith-Arena on Saturday afternoon.

1. FC HEIDENHEIM 1846

After managing to keep their place in the Bundesliga by winning their relegation playoff with SV Elversberg in the final minute, 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 look for a fresh start at the Voith-Arena – a new campaign and thus, a new opportunity to finish higher in the table.

Last season was, statistically, a brutal one – Heidenheim finished tied with relegated VfL Bochum and SV Holstein Kiel for the most losses in the season (21), and were also second-worst in the league in terms of passes/chances in and around the opposing penalty area, only ahead of Kiel (619 touches in penalty area, 3789 in opponents’ attacking third).

However, Heidenheim, who finished sixteenth in the table last season (8-5-21, 29 pts), are not too far off in other statistical categories, when compared to their opponents, VfL Wolfsburg, who finished five places above them (11-10-13, 43 pts). Pass accuracy is a key statistic to watch for this match: in terms of short passes, Heidenheim were second-worst in the league (83.1%) – Wolfsburg finished fourth-worst (84.6%). In both medium passes (85.7% Wolfsburg – 85.2% Heidenheim) and long passes (53.3% Wolfsburg – 53.2% Heidenheim), the two sides were in the middle of the Bundesliga and the Baden-Württemberg side finished just one spot below the Niedersachsen side.

Multiple journalists have put Heidenheim in the relegation zone – even the Opta Supercomputer has them second-last by the time the season ends, joining 1. FC Köln in the drop zone. However, Frank Schmidt does not care about predictions and wants to prove them wrong; he told Kicker this week that anyone “could come to that conclusion”, but that “we know exactly what our team is capable of – and what we need to work on.”

He added, “We know that we made mistakes, and we have learned from them … everyone, and I mean everyone without exception, has to march in the same direction, not just with each other, but for each other. We saw a lack of this at times last season.” While he is ambitious to bring Heidenheim back to European football, after the club participated in the 2024/25 Conference League, he also said that the issues the club had last season “should not be looked at with the justification that we were in the Conference League – we got exactly what we deserved.”

Team News

Marvin Pieringer, who scored in both of the last two matches against Wolfsburg, happens to be one of the players absent from the matchday squad – this is due to an ankle injury suffered in the twenty-third minute of the second leg of the Elversberg tie. He will return in the first week of September at the earliest.

Goalkeeper Frank Feller (knee) and defensive midfielder Thomas Leon Keller (ligament) are also out, with Keller projected to return in early September and Feller to return in late September.

Projected XI (3-4-2-1): Ramaj – Siersleben, Gimber, Mainka – Ibrahimović, Schöppner, Dorsch, Conteh – Honsak, Scienza – Zivzivadze.

VFL WOLFSBURG

Another new season, and a new coach as well; Wolfsburg have had four different head coaches (excluding interims) in the last seventeen months. Niko Kovač was the head coach to start the 2023/24 season; before the season ended, he was out, with Ralph Hasenhüttl entering in his place. By the time that the following season came to an end, Hasenhüttl was out, with U19 coach Daniel Bauer temporarily taking over; once again, the club conducted a search for its new coach, eventually deciding on Paul Simonis to take the job.

Wolfsburg are hopeful that Simonis will be able to turn things around in the 2025/26 season, after Hasenhüttl’s side finished eleventh (11-10-13, 43 pts), their second consecutive year in the bottom-half of the Bundesliga table; however, the preseason did not look too convincing, as the club finished 1-0-4, with just five goals scored (four of which were against 1. FC Magdeburg) and fourteen conceded.

Simonis was asked about the match ahead and whether he felt nervous or excited going into it, and responded: “I am really excited – I am looking forward to it, and obviously, yes, you are a little bit nervous but it is nervousness in a good way. But the overhand is that I am really excited, so I am looking forward to it.”

He was asked what kind of strategy he wants to bring to VfL in the 2025/26 campaign, and said: “It is obviously a very tough competition. We hope that we can be dominant on the ball, but not naïve. We like to have the ball, we like to be in control, but you will face periods in the match or opponents that you need to play more directly [against].”

“You need to find a balance in that – but I would like to see a team on the pitch that is dominant on and off the ball, and if we manage to do so, I think that we can show the best version of ourselves,” the 40-year-old Dutchman added.

Regarding his opponent, Simonis said, “Credit to Heidenheim, and their last 15 to 20 years; it is very impressive what they have managed to do with there with quite a small budget. You know that you will face an opponent who are really going to be on top of you.”

Simonis emphasised Frank Schmidt’s strategy, and how he sees this match for the Wolfsburg squad: “They have their own style of play and they do not change that, regardless of opponent – they are very aggressive, they have a lot of belief and spirit. I like to see these kind of teams, it is going to be a great challenge for us, but we have to beat them anyway.”

Favouring Wolfsburg is the fact that that they are unbeaten in four meetings at the Voith-Arena since 2008 (3-1-0); the most recent meeting in Heidenheim was a 3-1 victory on 10 November 2024, with Yannick Gerhardt, Bence Dárdai, and Tiago Tomás as the goalscorers. However, the last time the two faced each other, it was a 0-1 defeat at the Volkswagen Arena on 29 March, with Marvin Pieringer scoring the deciding penalty in the sixteenth minute – it was the second consecutive match against Wolfsburg where he recorded a goal.

Team News

The injury list is quite long for VfL Wolfsburg; centre-back Denis Vavro (muscle) is probably the most notable, as he will be absent until December. The club does not have a certain long-term replacement at RCB, as Moritz Jenz, who is expected to start this match, is requesting to leave the club, and David Odogu has only three matches of experience with the senior Wolfsburg squad.

Striker Mohamed Amoura (thigh), who suffered an injury in the second friendly against Brighton & Hove Albion FC, is unavailable until mid-September at the earliest. There were rumours of a move for the 25-year-old Algerian international to SL Benfica, but the deal fell through and for the moment, he will be staying in Wolfsburg colours.

Left-back Rogério (muscle) is out until mid-September, after scoring in the same friendly match against Brighton; right midfielder Kevin Paredes (ankle), winger Jesper Lindstrøm (groin), and attacking midfielder / striker Jonas Wind (thigh) will also be missing out on the match. All three are projected to join Rogério in a return to the club in mid-September.

The only player set to make their Wolfsburg debut is Brazilian defensive midfielder Vinícius Souza, who was acquired from Sheffield United FC for a €15 million transfer fee a month ago.

Projected XI (4-2-3-1): Grabara – Mæhle, Koulierakis, Jenz, Fischer – Souza, Arnold – Wimmer, Majer, Skov Olsen – Pejčinović.