Borussia Dortmund vs. Stuttgart: Team News, Preview, Live Stream, TV Info
Borussia Dortmund host VfB Stuttgart on Matchday 14 of the 2015/16 Bundesliga season in Signal Iduna Park on Sunday.
The hosts lost both of their last two games, 3-1 at Hamburg in the league and 1-0 at Krasnodar in the UEFA Europa League. The Black and Yellows still sit in second place of the Bundesliga table, eight points behind runaway leaders Bayern Munich and five ahead of VfL Wolfsburg, their opponent next week.
Head coach Thomas Tuchel said in his press conference before the game he wants his team to turn the small negative trend around with a convincing performance against Sunday's visitors.
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The Swabians, too, lost their last two games, which led to the sacking of first-year head coach Alexander Zorniger in midweek. Stuttgart's 4-0 loss at home to then-last-placed FC Augsburg was the straw that broke the camel's back, as the club is currently 16th in the Bundesliga, with only three wins in 13 games—and no fewer than nine losses.
Jurgen Kramny was promoted from Stuttgart's under-23 team, playing in Germany's third division, for the time being. Kramny and Tuchel have some history, with both men coaching at Mainz 05 in 2008/09. Still, the coaching change obviously couldn't have come at a worse time for Dortmund: They had to make numerous changes to their preparation for the game, as the usual video analysis of Stuttgart's games would be rather pointless in this situation. Tuchel mentioned he and his staff have looked at some of the games Stuttgart's under-23 team have played under Kramny.
Stuttgart haven't beaten Sunday's hosts since January 2010—and haven't won at the Westfalenstadion since 2007. In last year's fixture at home, Dortmund managed a point thanks to a late equaliser from Ciro Immobile after Daniel Didavi's brace had put the Swabians 2-0 in front with 22 minutes to play.
Date: Sunday, November 29
Time: 2:30 p.m. GMT/9:30 a.m. ET/3:30 p.m. local time
Venue: Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund
TV Info: BT Sport Europe (U.K. only)/FS 1 (U.S. only)
Live Stream: BT Sport Live Streaming (U.K. only)/Fox Soccer 2Go (U.S. only)
Form Guide
| Dortmund | Stuttgart |
| Bremen: Win (3-1) | Leverkusen: Loss (4-3) |
| Qabala: Win (4-0) | Jena: Win (2-0) |
| Schalke: Win (3-2) | Darmstadt: Win (2-0) |
| Hamburg: Loss (3-1) | Bayern: Loss (4-0) |
| Krasnodar: Loss (1-0) | Augsburg: Loss (4-0) |
Predicted Lineups
Dortmund
Burki; Ginter, Sokratis, Hummels, Schmelzer; Gundogan, Weigl, Kagawa; Reus, Aubameyang, Mkhitaryan
Tuchel said in his press conference that he expects Marco Reus and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who missed the Europa League clash at Krasnodar out of precaution, to be available. They would walk into the starting XI, replacing Jonas Hofmann and Adrian Ramos.
Shinji Kagawa, who got to stay at home to rest during the week, will take his regular spot in midfield, relegating Gonzalo Castro to the bench. Matthias Ginter and Sokratis Papastathopoulos should rotate back into the lineup, as will Roman Burki.
With his entire current first-choice XI available and Dortmund needing to bounce back after two losses, don't expect experiments. The only spot Tuchel could tinker with is defensive midfield, where Julian Weigl played the two worst games of his excellent rookie campaign with the club in those two losses, looking a bit tired and sluggish especially in Russia. Sven Bender would be his logical replacement, even though the 26-year-old has looked far better in central defence than in midfield under Tuchel.
Stuttgart
Tyton; Schwaab, Niedermeier, Baumgartl, Insua; Rupp, Gentner; Maxim, Didavi, Kostic; Werner
Kramny has to make do without five regular starters, as Florian Klein, Toni Sunjic, Martin Harnik and Daniel Ginczek will miss the game through various injuries, while Serey Die is suspended after collecting his fifth booking against Augsburg.
Because of the coaching change, players like Georg Niedermeier, Lukas Rupp or Alexandru Maxim, who didn't have the best standing under Zorniger, could get a chance.
Players to Watch
Aubameyang leads the Bundesliga with 15 goals and should be fresh after sitting out the midweek game in Russia. His side desperately missed his goalscoring prowess on Thursday, failing to find the net for the first time all season. With only one goal in the two consecutive losses, the Black and Yellows have lost the momentum their prolific attack had gathered during the streak of seven wins on the spin before the November international break.
Trying to stop Sunday's hosts from regaining that momentum will be Polish 'keeper Przemyslaw Tyton. Widely regarded as one of the worst starting goalkeepers in the entire league by onlookers and fans alike, the 28-year-old has gotten better in recent weeks: He set a record for the season with 10 saved shots in his side's loss at Bayern (via Sport1, in German), while German magazine Kicker chose him as the man of the match in the win against Darmstadt.
Stuttgart will need Tyton to be on his best if they hope to stand a chance against Dortmund: The Swabians have conceded the most goals of all Bundesliga sides with 31—no other club has conceded more than 25.
Key Battle: Stuttgart's Pressing vs. Dortmund's Midfield
Dortmund's loss to Hamburg had a lot to do with Hamburg's aggressive, almost full-court pressing. The northern Germans didn't allow the Black and Yellows to build up calmly, which led to a number of players losing patience. Two of Hamburg's goals, remember, came after they intercepted Dortmund in the buildup.
Stuttgart played very aggressive, high-intensity pressing under Zorniger but weren't overly effective, as one can read in the table. Chances are they will play more conservatively under Kramny, sitting deeper and trying to hit Dortmund on the break. With a more-than-shaky defence, however, the Swabians might be better off trying to engage Dortmund in a fight in the middle of the park.
At any rate, considering Dortmund haven't kept a clean sheet in the Bundesliga since mid-October and Stuttgart have the worst defensive record in the division, fans and viewers can hope for an entertaining match. The last seven meetings between the two clubs have produced an impressive 32 goals.
Odds (via Oddschecker)
Dortmund: 1-4
Draw: 7-1
Stuttgart: 12-1
Lars Pollmann is a featured columnist writing on Borussia Dortmund. He also writes for Yellowwallpod.com. You can follow him on Twitter.
