Stuttgart vs Bayern Munich

Midweek Bundesliga action gets underway at the Mercedes-Benz Arena as an injury-hit Stuttgart take on perennial German champions Bayern Munich.

Following a run of three Bundesliga defeats in a row, Stuttgart are now unbeaten in their last three league matches (W2, D1), including a 2-0 away win at Wolfsburg at the weekend. The hosts have scored six goals across their last six Bundesliga outings, just one fewer than in their seven previous games in the competition combined. Worryingly, though, ‘Die Schwaben’ have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last 12 Bundesliga home fixtures en route to setting the club’s third-worst such run in their top-flight history. Indeed, just two sides have conceded more Bundesliga home goals than Stuttgart (13) so far this season, with a clear majority (69.23%) of those goals coming in the first half of play. That’s a massive problem, as they’ve let in 3+ goals in each of their last four top-flight H2Hs (L4).

On the other hand, Bayern Munich came from a 1-0 HT deficit to beat Mainz 2-1 at home over the weekend, taking their winning streak in the Bundesliga to three matches. But since each of those triumphs yielded a single-goal margin, the ‘Bavarians’ are not as convincing as they were earlier in the season. Much of the blame for that has to be pinned on a leaky defense as Julian Nagelsmann’s men have not kept a clean sheet in their last ten Bundesliga away fixtures on the trot. However, Bayern have been nothing short of outstanding in the front third, scoring a staggering 47 goals in their opening 15 Bundesliga games (3.13 on average). Furthermore, they’ve scored in each of their last 14 Bundesliga travels, setting an unprecedented feat in Germany’s top-flight history in the process.