Our next opponents: VfB still have it in their own hands

Position

For much of last weekend, it seemed unlikely that VfB would still have their Champions League qualification in their own hands ahead of their head-to-head with the Werkself. In their away match against league rivals TSG Hoffenheim, Stuttgart were trailing 3-2 well into stoppage time. Moreover, the hopes of the roughly 10,000 travelling fans of securing a point took a knock in the 69th minute when Stuttgart captain Atakan Karazor was shown a red card for a hard challenge on Fisnik Asllani. Yet their team showed character and managed to equalise despite being a man down. In the fifth minute of stoppage time, Tiago Tomás scored the equaliser with the last move of the game. “A fantastic display of energy and determination has led to the point, which we can live with this time,” said VfB board member for sport Fabian Wohlgemuth. “We’ve maintained our position against Hoffenheim and, moreover, experienced just how intense the matches against direct rivals are and will be in the final stages of the season.” Hoffenheim, like VfB and Bayer 04, sit sixth in the table on 58 points. The race for Champions League qualification couldn’t be any closer.

Afterwards, coach Sebastian Hoeneß spoke of an “incredible match” in which his side managed to pick up their 17th point after falling behind – only FC Bayern (29 points) and SC Freiburg (19) have done so more often. A point that felt like a win. “We won this one today with a draw,” said goalkeeper Alexander Nübel, who had kept VfB in the game with numerous saves, summing up his feelings. “In the end, it’s a very important point that could give us a boost for the Bundesliga run-in,” said striker Ermedin Demirovic, already looking ahead to the match against Bayer 04. In the first half of the season, Stuttgart won 4-1 at the BayArena, taking a 4-0 lead after a strong first 45 minutes thanks to goals from Jamie Leweling (2), Maximilian Mittelstädt and Deniz Undav. Alejandro Grimaldo  pulled one back from the penalty spot in the second half to make it 4-1. It meant the Bad Cannstatt side won against the Werkself for the first time in 15 competitive matches without success.

Stuttgart now have three 'finals' left: in addition to their two Bundesliga fixtures at home to Bayer 04 and away at Eintracht Frankfurt, VfB have the chance to defend their title from last year against FC Bayern in the DFB-Pokal final in Berlin on 23 May.

PersoNNEL

Stuttgart will be without their captain, Atakan Karazor, for their final home game of the season against Bayer 04, as well as for the match in Frankfurt the following week. The German Football Association’s disciplinary committee suspended the 29-year-old midfielder for two league matches following his straight red card last weekend in Hoffenheim. The two centre-backs, Finn Jeltsch and Ameen Al-Dakhil, who were sidelined with injuries in recent weeks, were able to participate in parts of team training again and are expected to return to the squad on Saturday.

Karazor's role in defensive midfield could be filled by Spanish Under-21 international Chema Andrés, as was the case two weeks ago in the 1-1 draw with SV Werder Bremen. Angelo Stiller is a certainty in the centre of midfield. The 25-year-old is the only VfB player, alongside goalkeeper Alexander Nübel, to have featured in all 32 Bundesliga matches so far this season. Sebastian Hoeneß has plenty of top-class options at his disposal up front, including the three Germany internationals Jamie Leweling, Chris Führich and Deniz Undav. But Ermedin Demirovic, Tiago Tomás, Bilal El Khannouss and Nikolas Nartey also regularly demonstrate their goal-scoring prowess.

Problems

Stuttgart are vulnerable to counter-attacks: the Bad Cannstatt club have already conceded ten goals following quick breaks by their opponents – the most in the league. And no other team has been subjected to as many counter-attacks as VfB (54 times). It will be interesting to see how they fare against the Werkself, who have scored 12 goals on the break – the second-highest tally after FC Bayern.

The strong Stuttgart side have suffered a slight dip in form in recent weeks and have won just one of their last five matches. Stiller and his team last put in a convincing performance over the full 90 minutes in their 4-0 win against Hamburger SV in mid-April. The Werkself aren't exactly Stuttgart’s favourite opponents to host: VfB have been waiting 16 years for a home win against Bayer 04. The last time they picked up three points against the Black and Reds in front of their own fans was in April 2010 (2–1). They haven’t gone this long without a home win against any other team.

PERformers

With 66 goals, VfB, alongside the Werkself, boast the league’s second-best attack behind Bayern (116) and have four players in the top 20 scorers: Deniz Undav (18 goals/5 assists), Jamie Leweling (7/9), Ermedin Demirovic (11/4) and Chris Führich (7/8). Together, the quartet have produced 43 of those 66 goals. Much of the fifth-placed side’s play revolves around their pacy wingers: Stuttgart have delivered the most crosses from open play of any team (486) and rank second for cross accuracy (behind TSG Hoffenheim). Chris Führich alone finds a teammate with 44 per cent of his crosses – the best stats among all players with at least 25 crosses.

Another interesting fact: Stuttgart often score in the final quarter of an hour. Sebastian Hoeneß’s side have found the net 22 times in the last 15 minutes of games – only FC Bayern (34) have done so more often. Much like Bayer 04, VfB are known for their possession-based football. Whilst the Black and Reds average 60 per cent possession, the Red and Whites sit just below that at 58 per cent. And they have one other thing in common: this encounter will see the two teams with the strongest tackling stats in the league facing off: VfB (55 per cent won) vs. the Werkself (52 per cent won). Four Stuttgart players stand out in this regard: Ramon Hendriks (69.6 per cent), Jeff Chabot (66.4), Karazor (65.4) and Maximilian Mittelstädt (64.5) are among the top ten players in the league in terms of tackle success rate.