Stuttgart will be looking to win their seventh consecutive game when they host Hoffenheim. Despite dropping their last three games, the visitors, on the other hand, will travel in sixth place in the standings.
Preview (Stuttgart vs. Hoffenheim)
Stuttgart, on the other hand, has won six straight games after defeating Union Berlin 3-0 on the road last weekend. They seem to have forgotten what it feels like to lose. In the capital, Serhou Guirassy started the score to raise his incredible total to 14 goals. Silas and Deniz Undav added late goals to his side’s triumph. It maintained Sebastian Hoeness’s team in second place. This unexpected improvement in play marks an incredible comeback for a squad that almost avoided relegation by one point at the end of the previous season and only avoided it by overcoming Hamburger SV in a two-leg playoff in June.
Much of the credit goes to Hoeness, who will be eager to upset his former team on Saturday. Guirassy is already drawing a lot of attention from other places. Rumors of a £15 million release clause in his contract make many people on the continent salivate. In fact, there will be an intriguing side story to this weekend’s matchup at Mercedes-Benz Arena. Both teams attempted something like a managerial change earlier in the season. After taking over Stuttgart in December 2019, Pellegrino Matarazzo guided the team to promotion and a top-half finish in their first season back in the Bundesliga.
But after a challenging campaign, he was fired in October of last year. In February of this year, Hoffenheim announced him as their new manager. Die Kraichgauer’s relegation zone position put Matarazzo in a similar precarious situation to his future opponent. It took him longer to turn things around. But in the end, five victories in their last ten games were sufficient to guarantee them a spot in the Bundesliga for a comfortable 16th season.
Team News
Guirassy’s slight hamstring injury against Union Berlin last weekend put a huge dent in Stuttgart’s collective sense of invincibility. The Guinean forward may not be able to play until after the forthcoming international break in November. Undav, a former Brighton & Hove Albion striker who has scored three goals in five substitute appearances for his new team, is probably going to start in Guirassy’s place right away. It’s highly likely that Silas will accompany him right away in the attacking group of the hosts. Due to hip and knee problems, both Fabian Bredlow and Nicolas Nartey are out, and Dan-Axel Zagadou and Josh Vagnoman are questionable.
In the meantime, Andrej Kramaric’s thigh problem will keep Hoffenheim’s star forward out of the game. Due to personal injury issues, Dennis Geiger, Stanley John, Ozan Kabak, and Stanley Nsoki will also miss the trip on Saturday. As a result, Matarazzo has very few options to switch out a losing team. However, given the visitors’ recent collapse against Frankfurt, Kevin Akpoguma may be needed to step up in defense.
The absence of both famous strikers due to injury will almost surely reduce the potency of both teams, with Stuttgart feeling the loss of Guirassy, especially considering his incredible start to the season. Given that both managers will be itching to get the better of their previous teams, we think Hoffenheim has enough going for them to avoid losing on Saturday. Their winning streak will undoubtedly have to end sooner rather than later.
Stuttgart 1-1 Hoffenheim
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