Stuttgart vs. Bayern Munich preview: Bavarians continue title push

Bayern Munich will continue their Bundesliga title push when they travel to MHP Arena for Friday’s Bundesliga clash with Stuttgart.

Stuttgart

Stuttgart are sitting in seventh place in the Bundesliga table after winning 10, drawing six and losing seven of their 23 league matches this season. They will head into Friday’s fixture on the back of an underwhelming run of league form, having won just one of their previous five Bundesliga matches. They suffered back-to-back defeats against Mainz and Borussia Mönchengladbach, before they recorded a 2-1 away victory over Borussia Dortmund. 

However, they have been unable to build upon that win over Dortmund, going on to lose 2-1 to Wolfsburg before playing out a 1-1 draw with Hoffenheim last weekend. Nick Woltemade saw his ninth-minute opener cancelled out by Gift Orban, ensuring Stuttgart had to settle for a point. As a result, Sebastian Hoeneß are two points adrift of the top six and three points away from Freiburg in fourth position. 

Stuttgart are now preparing for a tough test against the league leaders, knowing they are at risk of losing three consecutive home league games for the first time since the 2021-22 season. However, they do have the chance to record back-to-back Bundesliga home wins over Bayern for the first time in 18 years, after they claimed a 3-1 victory in their most recent encounter at the MHP Arena in May 2024.

Team News

Stuttgart are unable to call upon Dan-Axel Zagadou, Nikolas Nartey, Leonidas Stergiou, Luca Raimund, El Bilal Touré and Ameen Al-Dakhil. Meanwhile, Justin Diehl is not quite ready for a return to first-team action.

Bayern Munich

Bayern enjoy an eight-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga table after winning 18, drawing four and losing one of their 23 league matches. Vincent Kompany’s side saw their seven-game winning league run come to an end in a goalless draw against title rivals Bayer Leverkusen on February 15, although the Bavarians would have been satisfied with a point. 

They returned to winning ways in Sunday’s home clash against Eintracht Frankfurt, with Michael Olise, Hiroki Ito, Jamal Musiala and Serge Gnabry all finding the net in a resounding 4-0 victory at the Allianz Arena. That emphatic win represented Bayern’s 10th consecutive top-flight victory on home turf, helping them maintain their unbeaten home record in the Bundesliga this season. The dominant performance was also a demonstration as to why the Bavarians are comfortably the league’s highest scorers with 69 goals to their name this season.

They have not been as flawless in recent road trips, having won two, drawn two and lost one of their previous five top-flight away games. Bayern will still fancy their chances of taking maximum points from Friday’s contest, especially as they cruised to a 4-0 victory in October’s reverse fixture against Stuttgart. 

Team News

Midfielder Joshua Kimmich is expected to miss the away game against his former club due to an injury issue. The visitors are also unable to call upon goalkeeper Daniel Peretz.