Ace Football previews the Bundesliga match between VfB Stuttgart and Bayern Munich, and offers betting tips, odds, line-ups, and team news.
Saturday afternoon will see VfB Stuttgart welcome Bayern Munich to the Mercedes-Benz Arena for another round of Bundesliga football.
Both clubs head into the fixture seeking a return to winning ways after dropping points last weekend. By all means, however, they’ve each enjoyed solid starts to the new season. Stuttgart, for instance, are a respectable eighth in the standings and eight points behind leaders Bayern.
The hosts will throw everything at Bayern despite their injury problems. But with Hansi Flick conceding the visitors are not 100% yet, could an upset indeed be on the table? Or will it be another routine victory for the title holders?
VfB Stuttgart Form & Stats
After winning promotion, via a runners-up spot in the second division, last season, Stuttgart have enjoyed a sound start in their return to the German top-flight to sit in the upper-half of the standings.
Despite suffering a 3-2 home defeat to Freiburg in their season-opener, the Reds have remained unbeaten since. They’ve also scored in all of their eight fixtures. A four-match winless run, though, is a concern. It’s not an ideal way to enter possibly one of their toughest games of the campaign.
Marc-Oliver Kempf’s last-gasp header, however, spared them defeat in their 3-3 thriller against Hoffenheim last weekend and they would, no doubt, accept a similar result against Bayern.
But Pellegrino Matarazzo’s side will have to face the reigning champions without Nicolas Gonzalez. The Argentine forward, who is their joint-top scorer on three goals, is out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury.
Key Team Stats
- Drawn their last four league games.
- Kept just one clean sheet in their eight league games this season.
- BTTS in seven of their eight league games this season.
- Over 2.5 goals in five of their last six games against Bayern in all competitions.
Bayern Munich Form & Stats
The Bavarians arrive on the back of a 1-1 draw at home to Werder Bremen last weekend. They hadn’t dropped points at the Allianz Arena since a goalless stalemate against RB Leipzig in February – or nine league games ago, to be precise.
More concerning, though, was how Werder penetrated Bayern’s shaky defense during the match. In fact, they registered more shots on target and took a first-half lead. But a quick succession of saves from Manuel Neuer, along with Jerome Boateng’s timely interception from Milot Rashica, spared their blushes.
Bayern responded by beating RB Salzburg 3-1 in a midweek Champions League group-stage match, securing a knockout spot for the 13th campaign in succession. But Flick knows there is room for improvement.
The head coach lamented his side’s ‘unforced errors’ during his pre-match conference. He also conceded ‘concentration isn’t always at 100%’, likely referring to the club’s defensive record of 12 goals conceded. It’s only the league’s seventh-best record, after all.
Anything less than a victory on Saturday will be unacceptable for Bayern, with only a one-point lead in the standings.
Neuer, on the other hand, can equal Bayern legend Olivier Kahn’s Bundesliga record of 196 clean sheets on Saturday by keeping Stuttgart at bay.
Key Team Stats
- Won 18 of their last 19 games against Stuttgart in all competitions.
- Won 13 of their last 14 away league games (L1).
- Over 2.5 goals in their last five away league games.
- BTTS in six of their eight league games this season.
- Robert Lewandowski has scored 11 goals in seven league games this season.
Team News
Stuttgart: Nicolas Gonzalez, Maxime Awoudja, Erik Thommy, Momo Cisse, & Hamadi Al Ghaddioui (out).
Bayern Munich: Alphonso Davies & Joshua Kimmich (out); Niklas Sule (doubt).
Predicted Line-ups
(Note: The image will change to the official XI once they’re both announced)
Top Goalscorers in Recent Games
Head-To-Head Record
Below are some head-to-head stats on each team’s recent form in the Bundesliga.
Match Facts
Betting Tips
More Odds
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