Stuttgart vs Bayer Leverkusen

The 2022/23 Bundesliga season is approaching the business end as relegation-battling Stuttgart and European hopefuls Bayer Leverkusen lock horns at the Mercedes-Benz Arena.

Stuttgart’s second consecutive Bundesliga defeat in the previous round, coupled with Schalke’s victory, demoted ‘Die Schwaben’ below the dreaded dotted line, reigniting relegation fears in the home camp. Only last season, they needed a last-gasp strike to avoid relegation playoffs, a place they’ll occupy at the end of this campaign unless they can turn their fortunes around quickly. Stuck two points below safety, Stuttgart can draw some confidence from winning points in their two Bundesliga home matches under new boss Sebastian Hoeneß (W1, D1), the same return his successor Bruno Labbadia had in his final five home games. The arrival of a European contender won’t intimidate the new manager, especially considering that his men have scored 2+ goals in all but one of their home league outings against top-nine opponents (W4, D1, L3).

Meanwhile, Bayer Leverkusen’s dream of landing European silverware took a hit in midweek as they slumped to a 1-0 defeat at Roma in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final tie. Back-to-back losses in the build-up to this clash testify to the visitors’ dip in form following an impressive run of 14 unbeaten matches in all competitions (W10, D4). They can at least rely on a six-game unbeaten Bundesliga run on the road to restore some form and confidence ahead of Roma’s visit to the BayArena next week. Adding to this sentiment, ‘Die Werkself’ have only lost one of their last 22 encounters against Stuttgart in all competitions (W17, D4), going down 1-0 in the Bundesliga in 2018. Xabi Alonso’s men ran out 2-0 victors in the reverse fixture, extending their winning H2H run in the top flight to four games.