VfB Stuttgart vs. Borussia Dortmund: Team News, Preview, Live Stream, TV Info
VfB Stuttgart host Borussia Dortmund on Matchday 31 of the 2015/16 Bundesliga season on Saturday.
The match is much more important for the hosts than the Black and Yellows, seeing as a poor run of form—only two wins from their last 10 league games—has put them back into a relegation battle many thought the Swabians had left behind a few weeks ago: Stuttgart are 15th in the table, only two points ahead of Werder Bremen in the relegation-play-off spot
Head coach Jurgen Kramny, who took over in late November and promptly lost his first match in charge against Dortmund 4-1, is optimistic his team can fight their way out of the danger zone, per the club's official website: "We are ready to face the current situation and defend ourselves. It’s all about giving it full-throttle, fighting and showing a united front. We are approaching the tasks ahead positively and we firmly believe we can get some positive results."
TOP NEWS
Madrid Fines Players $590K 😲
'Mbappé Out' Petition Gaining Steam 😳
Star-Studded World Cup Ad 🤩
The game is of little significance for the Black and Yellows, whose focus solely lies on the DFB-Pokal final against Bayern Munich on May 21. They have nothing to play for in the Bundesliga, having already clinched a second-place finish weeks ago. A loss against Stuttgart will mean Bayern win the title with a win at Hertha BSC, so Dortmund may try to delay the inevitable.
Saturday's visitors have won twice against the Swabians this season already—the aforementioned 4-1 in the league and a 3-1 away win in the cup in February—and haven't lost against them since January 2010. This is their longest such run in the Bundesliga, according to Thursday's edition of German sport magazine Kicker.
Date: Saturday, April 23
Time: 2:30 p.m. BST/9:30 a.m. ET/3:30 p.m. local time
Venue: Mercedes Benz Arena, Stuttgart
TV Info: Gol TV USA (U.S. only)
Live Stream: Fox Soccer 2Go (U.S. only)
Form Guide
| Stuttgart | Dortmund |
| Ingolstadt: Draw (3-3) | Liverpool: Draw (1-1) |
| Leverkusen: Loss (2-0) | Schalke: Draw (2-2) |
| Darmstadt: Draw (2-2) | Liverpool: Loss (4-3) |
| Bayern: Loss (3-1) | Hamburg: Win (3-0) |
| Augsburg: Loss (1-0) | Hertha: Win (3-0) |
Predicted Lineups
Stuttgart
Long-term Dortmund player Kevin Grosskreutz will miss the game with an injury, as will midfielder Serey Die and striker Daniel Ginczek, another former Dortmund man. Centre-back Timo Baumgartl "is feeling the effects of a flu virus," per the club.
Midfielder Lukas Rupp, one of Stuttgart's top performers this season, is questionable after overcoming a flu himself, but told Kicker's George Moissidis (link in German) that he expects to be able to play.
Kramny could opt for a cautious approach with five at the back, which worked well against Bayern until defender Georg Niedermeier scored an own goal.
Predicted Starting XI: Tyton; Harnik, Schwaab, Niedermeier, Sunjic, Insua; Rupp, Gentner; Didavi, Kostic; Werner.
Dortmund
Although the 3-0 win over Hertha in the DFB-Pokal semi-final in midweek required surprisingly little effort from Dortmund, rotation is again expected. Head coach Thomas Tuchel has made a number of changes for every Bundesliga game in recent weeks.
Ilkay Gundogan could be out after picking up a knock to his ankle late in Wednesday's game, as Dortmund surely won't take any risks in a rather meaningless game. Star striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is highly unlikely to feature, having "chipped a bone" in his toe on Monday, per the club's official website.
Players such as Matthias Ginter, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Erik Durm, Nuri Sahin or Moritz Leitner, all of whom didn't feature in the cup, could get the nod in the starting XI, while 17-year-olds Felix Passlack and Christian Pulisic could return to the lineup as well.
Predicted Starting XI: Burki; Ginter, Sokratis, Hummels, Passlack; Sahin, Durm, Leitner; Mkhitaryan, Ramos, Pulisic.
Players to Watch
One player whose individual performances haven't suffered too much during Stuttgart's poor run of form is left-winger Filip Kostic. The Serbian attacker has the pace and technical abilities to pose problems to any right-back in the league. Having scored and assisted four goals each in the "Ruckrunde," as Germans call the second half of the season, the 23-year-old has been his side's most consistent danger man.
As for Dortmund, it's difficult to point out one specific player without knowing Tuchel's lineup plans. It would be interesting to see how Pulisic follows up on his best performance and first goal at the senior level against Hamburg on the previous matchday, for example.
Adrian Ramos, who is likely to lead to the line in the absence of Aubameyang, will look to improve on his impressive numbers in 2016:
Key Battle
Jurgen Kramny vs. Thomas Tuchel
The tactical battle between the two head coaches should be interesting.
Last time the two sides met, Dortmund deviated from their usual, dominant possession-based playing style, as Tuchel put Durm and Aubameyang on the wing, with Reus as the centre-forward. The Black and Yellows widened the pitch and, to a degree, conceded possession to the Swabians, practically eliminating the threat of counter-attacks.
That was, however, during a time in which Stuttgart were the in-form team of German football, as they came off five straight wins in the league.
This time, the hosts are limping in the league and likely lacking confidence. If Kramny uses the same plan as he did against Bayern, where his side sat deep and often defended with six men in the last line, the game could turn into a bit of a stalemate.
Patience will be required to break the deadlock, so don't be surprised if the game turns into a low-scoring affair that could be decided by a set piece or that one individual mistake neither side has done a great job of avoiding in recent weeks.
Odds (via Odds Shark)
Stuttgart: 19-4
Draw: 333-100
Dortmund: 1-2
Lars Pollmann is a Featured Columnist writing on Borussia Dortmund. He also writes for YellowWallPod.com. You can follow him on Twitter.
