Stuttgart vs. Bayern Munich: Team News, Preview, Live Stream, TV Info

Bayern Munich travel to Stuttgart on Saturday afternoon with every hope of getting their title run back on track at a venue that has proven rather easy for lesser sides this season. 

Pep Guardiola's team may have stumbled against Champions League hopefuls Wolfsburg and Schalke of late—with an opening-day defeat to Dieter Hecking's side followed by a 1-1 draw to the Royal Blues—but the Bavarian champions will have every intention of beating Huub Stevens' team by quite a margin. 

Stuttgart current sit in 16th place in the Bundesliga table, occupying the top relegation spot, but they could propel themselves as far as 13th if results went their way on Saturday. 

Kerstin Joensson/Associated Press

Stevens' side may look like relegation favourites—and have certainly played like them too throughout this current campaign—but have actually looked like a decent outfit of late, losing just one of their last five league games against a strong and stubborn Borussia Moenchengladbach side. 

Although Bayern will be expected to walk to all three points in this clash they will be without star defender Jerome Boateng, while injured players such as Franck Ribery and Philipp Lahm are still making their way back to full fitness. 

This match may look like a foregone conclusion on paper but Bayern are far from full strength. 

Date: Saturday, February 7

Time: 14:30 p.m. GMT/9:30 a.m. ET

Venue: Westfalenstadion, Dortmund

TV Info: Not on UK tv/GolTV (U.S. only)

Live Stream: Not available/ GolTV (U.S. only)

Form guide

Stuttgart	Mainz - Draw	Hamburg - win	Paderborn- draw	Stuttgart - loss	Cologne - draw
Bayern Munich	Augsburg - win	Freiburg - win	Mainz - win	Wolfsburg - loss	Schalke - draw

Predicted lineup

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With Boateng suspended for the foreseeable future we're likely to see Mehdi Benatia come in alongside Dante and David Alaba in the back three of Guardiola's defence. This should then see Mitchell Weiser and Juan Bernat play as wing-backs on either wings, often filling in to the midfield to put four players across the centre of the pitch. 

Both will then be joined by Bastian Schweinsteiger and Xabi Alonso in the centre of the pitch, who will look to run their rule over the pace of Bayern and therefore the overall game on Saturday. 

We may well see Robert Lewandowski start up front on Saturday against Stuttgart as Guardiola looks to re-introduce the Polish striker into his side, yet it's more likely that Thomas Muller will keep his spot up front. Similarly, Mario Gotze is likely to play off the German striker alongside the ever-excellent Arjen Robben on either wing. 

Stuttgart are likely to set themselves up in a similar manner to the draw with Cologne earlier in the week, with Sven Ulreich in goals in front of a back-line consisting of Adam Hlousekand Daniel Schwaab on either flank alongside Timo Baumgartl and Georg Neidermeier in the centre of defence. 

Cristian Genter and Daniel Didavi will surely sit in as the midfield pairing with Moritz Leitner sitting just in front to make up the midfield trio. On the left wing Sercan Sararer will likely feature along with Austrian internatioanl Florian Klein, while Martin Harnik take his place up front. 

Players to Watch

Bayern Munich have been well and truly driven by one man this season and that player is Arjen Robben. In the Dutch international, Guardiola has an attacking player who simply doesn't give up. 

As we saw against Schalke on Tuesday, Robben is the focal point of everything Bayern do at the minute and more often than not comes up with the goods for his side. If this Bavarian machine has one player capable of a piece of magic it's this player. 

Stuttgart don't score many goals but fortunately for them they also don't concede too many either. A strong defence is always key to any battle for survival and at the heart of this side is Daniel Schwaab.

The 26-year-old can play in either the centre-back or right-back role and has excelled at both all season in a team that has often looked far from their best. Any and all inspiration against the mightiest of foes on Saturday will come from Schwaab's performance at the back. 

Kerstin Joensson/Associated Press

Key Battles

Martin Harnik vs. Dante

Stuttgart will really fancy their chances at scoring against this Bayern team now that Boateng won't be in the side to protect what can be a vulnerable back line on the counter. The home side will undoubtedly turn to goalscorer Martin Harnik to hone in on replacement defender Dante and try to get the better of him throughout the match. 

Oriol Romeu vs. Bastian Schweinsteiger

Despite a relatively poor season, Stuttgart fans will be proud of the manner in which young Spaniard Oriol Romeu has performed in the heart of midfield. The 23-year-old defensive midfielder will have the mighty task of keeping Bastian Schweinsteiger quiet throughout the game and should make for an enticing battle. 

Odds (per Odds Checker)

Stuttgart: 14/1

Draw: 5/1

Bayer Munich:1/5