Paderborn vs Stuttgart

Bundesliga strugglers Stuttgart head to the Home Deluxe Arena to meet second-tier Paderborn, looking to progress into the DFB-Pokal quarter-finals for the first time since 2015/16.

After strolling past non-league outfit Einheit Wernigerode 10-0 in the opening DFB-Pokal round, Paderborn needed a nerve-shredding penalty shootout to dispatch top-tier Werder Bremen last time out following an action-packed 3-3 draw at home. However, Lukas Kwasniok’s men could only pick up one point in five league matches between that cup success and the World Cup break (D1, L4). An extended mid-season rest period seems to have benefitted Paderborn as they defied the odds to beat Karlsruher 1-0 on the road in their 2022 league opener. That’s perhaps the only comforting fact ahead of this clash, as they’ve failed to beat Stuttgart in any of their four historic H2Hs (D1, L3), including two defeats in the DFB-Pokal.

On the other hand, Stuttgart eked out a 1-0 win at Dynamo Dresden in their DFB-Pokal curtain-raiser before an overwhelming 6-0 triumph over Arminia Bielefeld in the last round, reaching the last-16 for the third time in four seasons. But unlike their hosts, ‘Die Schwaben’ have experienced a disappointing start to the new calendar year, going winless in all three Bundesliga outings (D2, L1), including a 2-1 defeat at RB Leipzig last weekend. Worryingly for manager Bruno Labbadia, his men head into proceedings winless in nine consecutive away matches (D4, L5) since the abovementioned triumph in Dresden. Much of the blame for Stuttgart’s shameful form on the road goes to their poor-performing backline that conceded 2+ goals eight times across those nine travels.