Borussia Dortmund host Stuttgart at the Signal Iduna Park on Saturday as they once again look for some consistency in their season whilst VfB continue under Michael Wimmer following the dismissal of Pellegrino Matarazzo, as their search for a new head coach continues.
Dortmund will want to bounce back after their 2-0 loss against Union Berlin last Sunday where they were very poor. In the game, BVB got off to the worst possible start when Janik Haberer latched onto a poor mistake from Gregor Kobel to give Union the lead. Haberer would then double Union’s lead in the 21st minute after Karim Adeyemi lost the ball in midfield. Dortmund struggled to come back from their early mistakes and ended up dropping down to eighth in the table. They redeemed themselves somewhat in midweek with a 2-0 win against Hannover 96 in the DFB Pokal, but it was yet another poor performance with Gregor Kobel winning man of the match.
Stuttgart on the other hand are experiencing somewhat of a revival under Wimmer. Their interim coach has helped them with successive wins in his two games in charge. Last weekend saw them beat Bochum 4-1 in what was their first win of the season, which lifted them out of the relegation zone. Then in midweek they beat Arminia Bielefeld 6-0 in the Pokal with Borna Sosa grabbing three assists as they too also progressed to the Round of 16.
The eyes will be on Dortmund in this game. Edin Terzic’s side have struggled for consistency this season and it has continued in recent displays. The draw against Bayern Munich seemed a step in the right direction but the loss against Union meant they took two steps forward and one step back. Terzic has also shown his interest in tinkering with a team who play well but it backfired both times against Manchester City and Union where he decided to start with a three at the back. Against a team such as Stuttgart, who are building confidence with every game, they can potentially put Dortmund in a vulnerable position and a season that started with a lot of promise is being quickly derailed.
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With this matchup between the two teams, the game that automatically springs to mind is the 5-1 defeat Stuttgart inflicted on Dortmund two years ago, which cost Lucien Favre his job and ultimately saw the arrival of Terzic for his first spell in charge. Last season Dortmund won both games winning 2-1 at home before a 2-0 win at the Mercedes Benz Arena.
BVB will be without Thomas Meunier this weekend, but Anthony Modeste is expected to return. Marco Reus and Marius Wolf will also face late fitness tests.
Predicted Line-ups:
Borussia Dortmund:
Kobel – Süle, Hummels, Schlotterbeck, Guerreiro – Özcan, Bellingham – Adeyemi, Brandt, Malen – Modeste
VfB Stuttgart:
Müller – Mavropanos, Anton, Zagadou – Silas, Endo, Sosa – Ahamada, Millot – Führich, Guirassy
GGFN | Jack Meenan