Bayern Munich vs Stuttgart

Allianz Arena is the venue as Bayern Munich and Stuttgart go head-to-head in the latest chapter of their long-standing Bundesliga rivalry.

Bayern Munich eased past Inter Milan 2-0 in their opening Champions League group stage fixture in midweek to bounce back from consecutive 1-1 Bundesliga draws. Julian Nagelsmann’s side will have to repeat that performance if they are to avoid going winless in three successive league matches for the first time since the tail-end of last season. The ‘Bavarians’ haven’t gone two straight Bundesliga home games without winning since December 2020 and will be keen to keep it that way. Going into this round, the perennial German champions are no longer top of the table. But the last time it was the case, back on matchday four in 2021/22, they reacted by putting seven unanswered goals past Bochum. That’s not good news for Stuttgart, who are winless in the last three top-flight H2Hs at the Allianz Arena (D1, L2).

Indeed, after avoiding relegation to Germany’s second-tier by the finest of margins last season, visiting Stuttgart have experienced a five-game winless Bundesliga start (D4, L1). Ominously for ‘Die Schwaben,’ they were relegated the last two times they went winless in the opening five Bundesliga fixtures. Another failed attempt to land all three points would mark Stuttgart’s worst-ever six-match start to a new top-flight campaign. That seems likely to happen as Pellegrino Matarazzo’s men have won none of their 11 Bundesliga games on the road in 2022 (D7, L4). Low scoring has been a common theme in the visitors’ league matches this term, with four of their five top-flight outings featuring under 2.5 total goals.