Without Maximilian Arnold, who has been suspended, VfL Wolfsburg will have to play Union Berlin on Sunday. A look at the stats: what did it mean in the past if the midfield boss wasn’t there?
Wolfsburg’s captain Maximilian Arnold will be absent against Union Berlin.
IMAGO/Chai v Laage
It is the first league game this season that Maximilian Arnold will miss. The VfL captain got his fifth yellow card against Eintracht Frankfurt (2:2), and he now has to watch against Union Berlin on Sunday evening (7.30 p.m., LIVE! at kicker). Wolfsburg without Arnold – that has rarely been the case in recent years. The 28-year-old is hardly injured and has only missed 16 games since the 2015/2016 season. In which five VfL victories face five draws and six defeats. The statistics show: VfL is weaker without Arnold.
The win rate in the 245 games played with the midfielder is 36.7 percent, without Arnold on the field, the Lower Saxony team only won 31.3 percent of their games. The number of goals scored (1.43 on average with Arnold versus 1.38 without him) speaks for the captain, who is the third-best VfL scorer this season. Five goals and two assists are recorded, if Arnold was involved in a goal during this playing time, Wolfsburg did not lose (five wins, one draw).
Who replaces Arnold? – VfL coach Kovac has to come up with something
Now coach Niko Kovac has to come up with something. Who replaces Arnold? As captain, representative and predecessor Koen Casteels will appear in goal. On the six, Josuha Guilavogui should normally slip into the role of midfield boss and experienced leader. However, the 32-year-old Frenchman has not been on the field in the past three games, his last starting eleven was in the cup at the end of January – against Sunday opponents Union (1: 2). Another six in the squad, the Croatian Bartol Franjic, was recently absent due to a torn muscle fiber.
