Stuttgart vs Borussia Dortmund

Bundesliga relegation candidates Stuttgart entertain title hopefuls Borussia Dortmund at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in a lopsided showdown.

Despite facing another season-long fight against the drop, as was the case in 2021/22, Stuttgart bolstered their survival bid with a hard-fought 3-2 win at fellow relegation rivals Bochum last time out. That victory saw ‘Die Schwaben’ arrest an underwhelming five-game winless league streak (D1, L4) and move within three points of the safe zone. However, Sebastian Hoeneß’s men have only won one of their five Bundesliga home matches in 2023 (D1, L3), losing the last two in a row by a single-goal margin. A lack of firepower has witnessed Stuttgart score under 1.5 goals in four of those five games, which has been the case in their last three top-flight meetings with Dortmund (L3), including a thumping 5-0 defeat in the reverse fixture in October.

On the other hand, Borussia Dortmund could take advantage of Bayern Munich’s turmoil to land their first Bundesliga title since 2011/12 as they commence this round only two points below the ‘Bavarians.’ But Edin Terzic’s men have lacked a bit more consistency of late, with their last five league matches fluctuating between different outcomes (W3, D1, L1). It gets worse away from home as ‘Die Borussen’ are winless on their last four road trips in all competitions (D1, L3), frustratingly conceding 2+ goals on each occasion. Despite their form wobble on hostile turf, the visitors have still amassed more points (31) in 2023 than any other side in the Bundesliga. They’ll be confident of adding to that tally after beating Stuttgart in their last three away top-flight H2Hs.