Seoane: VfB selling themselves short

"Obviously" the Werkself have gained a lot of confidence from the 5-2 away win at Borussia Dortmund. The team under Gerardo Seoane have picked up ten out of a possible twelve points since the start of the year. Now the team from Swabia in seventeenth place are away to the side with the best record in the second half of the season. "We face a different opponent with a different starting point," declared Seoane.

VfB Stuttgart are "selling themselves short at the moment. They have very fast forwards and solid defenders who are always capable of scoring a headed goal," added the Swiss coach. The proof: The best VfB goalscorer in the current season is central defender Konstantinos Mavropanos (four goals) and next, with one strike less, is the winter signing from Hertha Berlin Marc-Oliver Kempf – also a defender.

Hradecky returns– Kossounou sidelined

In terms of personnel, Seoane had good and bad news at the pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon. The good news: Goalkeeper and captain Lukas Hradecky is "healthy and in good shape" after his Covid-19 infection and is no longer in self-isolation. With the exception of Tuesday, the Finnish keeper has taken part in all the training sessions this week.

In contrast, Africa Cup of Nations returnee Odilon Kossounou is ruled out as are Julian Baumgartlinger and winter signing Sardar Azmoun (both in rehab training). After 20 minutes against Borussia Dortmund, the Ivory Coast international suffered a muscle injury in training this week. Seoane estimates the central defender will be out of action for a week

Stats are irrelevant

VfB Stuttgart visit the BayArena as a 'favourite opponent' for the Werkself: Only one of the previous 19 Bundesliga fixtures against the Swabians has ended in defeat (14 wins, 4 draws). These are stats Seoane is aware of but does not consider any further. The 43-year-old boss: "That's a statistic I've seen but it has no influence on preparations for the game." Instead the Swiss coach has set himself a target of keeping up the pressure and tension within the team – to secure the next three points in 2022 in the best case scenario. That would be victory number 04 on the bounce.