This Saturday brings several crucial fixtures in the German top flight and one of these features the upcoming clash between relegation threatened Stuttgart and visitors, Wolfsburg, at the Mercedes-Benz-Arena with the hosts desperately needing a result to stay in touch with the teams above them.
Stuttgart find themselves sitting third from bottom in the Bundesliga and therefore in the relegation play-off spot where they trail fourth from Hertha Berlin and safety by a four-point margin.
Stuttgart’s situation has not been helped by the fact that the hosts have managed to collect just two wins out of their last 16 matches overall in the Bundesliga which came in the form of wins against Borussia M’gladbach and Augsburg but nine defeats within this period have overshadowed their modest successes.
Nevertheless, Stuttgart have made improvements of late as the hosts have lost just two of their last seven games and just once in their last four games on home soil at their Mercedes-Benz-Arena which gives them hope of a result here this Saturday.
Wolfsburg occupy 12th place in the Bundesliga standings and possess a comfortable nine-point cushion over Saturday’s hosts, Stuttgart, but with 13 points separating Wolfsburg from 6th placed Union Berlin, there’s little left for the visitors to play for it seems.
Despite picking up recent wins against Arminia Bielefeld and Mainz in crushing 4-0 and 5-0 victories, both of these wins were achieved on home soil at their VOLKSWAGEN ARENA, while also suffering four defeats out of their last six matches overall.
Recent defeats incurred against Freiburg, Bayer Leverkusen, Augsburg and Borussia Dortmund have ensured that Wolfsburg remain in the bottom half of the Bundesliga while the bigger picture shows Wolfsburg have won just five out of their last 20 games overall.
Results away from home have also been disappointing lately as the visitors have managed to capture just one win out of their last 10 outings on the road.
And together with failing to score in five of these games along with keeping just one clean sheet, there appears to be no guarantees of success here for Wolfsburg.
Stuttgart have lost just once in their previous four meetings at home against Wolfsburg and the hosts will be hoping they can gain the upper hand again this Saturday.