Stuttgart vs Bayern Munich

Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich make the trip to the Mercedes-Benz Arena to take on an out-of-sorts Stuttgart side in a lopsided contest.

Last weekend’s disappointing 2-1 defeat at basement boys Schalke 04 took Stuttgart’s woeful winless run to 21 away league matches. But more importantly, the relegation-battling hosts continued their disjointed Bundesliga start to the new calendar year (W1, D2, L4). Level on points with 17th-placed Bochum at the beginning of this round, ‘Die Schwaben’ will relish the impending home return after winning four of their last six league outings at the Mercedes-Benz Arena (D1, L1). But they cannot appreciate their rivals despite holding Bayern to back-to-back top-flight draws, accounting for their longest unbeaten H2H run since 2000. Commencing matches on the back foot has been Stuttgart’s nasty habit this term, as they’ve conceded a goal inside the first ten minutes of play in a league-high ten matches.

In the meantime, Bayern Munich’s pursuit of a record-extending 11th Bundesliga title is up in the air following a patchy seven-game start to 2023 (W3, D3, L1). Level on points with second-placed Borussia Dortmund and only four clear of fourth-placed RB Leipzig, the ‘Bavarians’ are looking to build on last weekend’s 3-0 romping of Union Berlin at home to alleviate some building pressure on manager Julian Nagelsmann. Reasons for optimism are aplenty, with an outrageous 12-game winning streak in away league H2Hs against Stuttgart highlighting the list. But after drawing seven Bundesliga matches for the first time since 2011/12, another share of the spoils could be on the cards, even though it was the case only once on their last six league travels (W4, L1).