Stuttgart take on Frankfurt in weekend encounter.

2024-11-04

As Stuttgart aim to maintain their unbeaten home league run against a formidable Frankfurt side fresh off a Europa League victory, Sunday's clash at MHPArena promises to test both teams' resilience ahead of the international break.

VfB Stuttgart

Stuttgart suffered their first home defeat in over a year, falling 2-0 to Atalanta in the Champions League. After a tightly contested first half, Die Roten conceded twice in the second half, recording their second defeat in the competition.

Wednesday’s UCL match was part of a congested fixture schedule that also saw them hold Bayer Leverkusen to a goalless draw in last Friday's league encounter, a game Stuttgart would count themselves lucky to have taken a point from. They face another stern test against Frankfurt this Sunday on home turf, aiming to secure maximum points.

‘We’ve worked hard to finish this demanding run of games on a high note,’ Sebastian Hoeneß told reporters, with the upcoming match being his team’s seventh in a space of 22 days. ‘Against Frankfurt, we want to muster all our strength to put ourselves in a good position,’ he added.

While Stuttgart saw an end to their unbeaten home run in all competitions, their unbeaten record on home turf in the league remains intact. The hosts [DDLWD] are on a 16-game unbeaten streak in the BL [11W, 5D, 0L], boasting the longest unbeaten run among teams currently in the top flight.

Stuttgart currently sits in eighth in the league standings, with 13 points from 9 games [3W, 4D, 2L], four points behind Sunday’s opponents in fourth place. They have won two of their last three league games against Frankfurt [2W, 1D, 0L] and will be looking to add another win to the tally this weekend.

A 4—4—2 formation could be seen with El Bilal Touré and Ermedin Demirović in attack. Meanwhile, Deniz Undav is in doubt, having picked up a hamstring injury against Atalanta.

Eintracht Frankfurt

Frankfurt [WDLDW] have accumulated 17 points from nine games [5W, 2D, 2L] in the league this season. This marks their second-best Bundesliga start at this stage since three points for a win was introduced, with their best being 19 points in the 2012-13 season.

The Eagles are coming off the back of a 1-0 Europa League win against Slavia Prague, courtesy of a second-half goal from Omar Marmoush. The victory was Frankfurt’s third in a row across all competitions, including a 7-2 thrashing of Bochum in the Bundesliga last weekend.

Dino Toppmöller’s men will travel to Stuttgart this weekend, hoping to make it back-to-back league wins as they head into the international break. Toppmöller expressed eagerness to make the most of the upcoming two-week hiatus to rest after a demanding run of games; however, he added that the anticipation for the top clash on Sunday is 'so great that it pushes you to your limits.’

The German manager is expected to deploy the familiar 4-4-2, with Hugo Ekitike and Omar Marmoush in attack.