On Saturday afternoon, Stuttgart host RB Leipzig at the Mercedes Benz Arena, in a Bundesliga clash that could be pivotal to both teams league campaigns.
Stuttgart are enduring a difficult season in the German top-flight. Pellegrino Matarazzo’s team are 15th place in the table, only outside the relegation play-off courtesy of a superior goal difference to 16th place Augsburg.
Maybe even more important is that the home team are just a point clear of the automatic relegation zone.
A goalless draw against rock bottom Greuther Furth last time out means that Die Roten have won just once in their last five league matches. They have also failed to score in three matches.
There was a positive in the Furth game in the return to action of star striker Sasa Kalajdzic, who featured for Stuttgart in the league for just the second time this season.
Stuttgart’s recent home record has been part of the problem, as they have won just one of their last five Bundesliga games at the Mercedes Benz Arena.
RB Leipzig have underachieved this season in the German top-flight. Die Roten Bullen currently sit ninth, three points off the league’s top six.
Their recent form in the Bundesliga has been slightly inconsistent, although the visitors have lost just one of their last four matches in the German top-flight, which is a start.
To say that Leipzig struggle away from home in the Bundesliga would be a massive understatement. The visitors have failed to win any of their last 11 away games in the German top-flight, dating back to last season.
Their recent away games in the Bundesliga have been low-scoring, with under 2.5 goals scored in seven of their last eight league matches on their travels.
Forebet predicts that RB Leipzig will end their woeful away run by recording a victory in a high-scoring encounter.