Second-tier Eintracht Braunschweig will attempt to pull off a surprise victory when they play host to Bundesliga side Wolfsburg in the third round of the DFB-Pokal on Tuesday.
The hosts are unbeaten in their last six games, while Wolfsburg have avoided defeat in their previous three matches.
Match preview
Eintracht Braunschweig were involved in the standout result of the first round after prevailing on penalties against Hertha Berlin.
After coming from two goals down to send the tie into extra time, Braunschweig took the lead thanks to Manuel Pherai, but strikes from Lucas Tousart and Dodi Lukebakio looked to have secured Hertha a victory.
However, the drama continued to unfold as Brian Henning equalised in the 118th minute, before Michael Schiele's side prevailed 6-5 on penalties.
Rather than build upon a memorable victory, Braunschweig proceeded to lose three of their next four games, but they have since experienced an upturn in results.
The hosts are currently unbeaten in their last six competitive games, while they have won their previous three home matches.
Niko Kovac seems to be finally finding his footing as Wolfsburg manager after experiencing a winless five-game start to the Bundesliga season.
Although three of their previous five games having ended all square, only one of those encounters has ended in defeat, suggesting that Wolfsburg are a much tougher team to beat than they were in the opening stages of the season.
Victories over Eintracht Frankfurt and Stuttgart have kept Wolfsburg out of the bottom three, and although there is still room for improvement in the Bundesliga, their immediate objective will be to progress from the second round of the Pokal.
They required a stoppage-time winner from Omar Marmoush to beat fourth-tier Carl Zeiss Jena in the first round, and having failed to make the last 16 in two of their last three seasons, Wolfsburg know that Braunschweig will be no walkover.
The visitors have also won only one of their previous five away games, while they have failed to score in three of those matches.
Team News
Braunschweig are expected to be without the services of Mehmet Ibrahimi, Philipp Strompf and Saulo Decarli due to injury issues.
Brian Behrendt could also be unavailable for the hosts after being forced off in the sixth minute of Saturday's 2-0 victory over FC Magdeburg.
If the centre-back is unable to feature then Danilo Wiebe could come into midfield to allow Jannis Nikolaou to move into the back three.
As for the visitors, an ankle problem will prevent Bartol Franjic from featuring, while Jerome Roussillon is unavailable due to an Achilles tendon injury.
After coming off the bench to score against Borussia Monchengladbach on Saturday, Marmoush is set to be rewarded with a place in the starting lineup.
Felix Nmecha was also utilised as a substitute at the weekend, and he could also come into the side for Tuesday's contest.
Eintracht Braunschweig possible starting lineup:
Fejzic; De Medina, Benkovic, Nikolaou; Marx, Wiebe, Krausse, Donkor; Pherai, Kaufmann, Ujah
Wolfsburg possible starting lineup:
Casteels; Baku, Lacroix, Van de Ven, Otavio; Gerhardt, Arnold; Wimmer, F. Nmecha, Marmoush; L. Nmecha
We say: Eintracht Braunschweig 1-2 Wolfsburg
Although Eintracht Braunschweig are unbeaten in their last six matches, we think the Bundesliga quality that Wolfsburg possess will help the visitors claim a narrow victory.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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