Although the newcomers are in 13th position on 17 points in the Bundesliga ahead of matchday 15, a closer look at the season to date for the Swabian club reveals: The team coached by Hannes Wolf have picked up all but one of their points at home at the Mercedes Benz Arena. VfB have only conceded two of 17 goals on their own turf. "Stuttgart are very good at pressing at their own ground and are great at switching from defence to attack," said Heiko Herrlich. "Up to now, only FC Augsburg have managed to take a point there with a 0-0 draw. Otherwise, Stuttgart have won all their home games so far this season."
In the last two away games, VfB have only secured one draw (1-1 at Hannover 96 plus a 1-0 defeat at Werder Bremen). speaking at the pre-match press conference on Thursday morning at the Media Centre at the BayArena, Herrlich declared: "They won their last home game against Borussia Dortmund and we didn't manage to do that here." The target for his team on Friday night is clear: "Of course, we want to win. We are aware that we've dropped too many points this season. We need to keep on picking up points to secure our place at the top end of the table. So it's up to us to get a result at Stuttgart."
As in the 1-1 draw against Dortmund on Saturday, Bayer 04 are looking to focus on having a solid defence. "We did well in open play in the last game and created chances up front. That's based on working against the ball and the desire to make yourself available. We want to keep that up," said Herrlich who has high expectations of his team: "We just have to be more effective in converting our chances than we were in the first half against Dortmund."
The 45-year-old goes into the third-last away game of the year without two injured players Charles Aránguiz (muscular problem) and Vlad Yurchenko (foot) plus the suspended Wendell. Herrlich was unwilling to divulge how he will replace the full-back: "We have lots of options. Which player we use depends on whether or not we play with a back four."
The Werkself squad will head south after the final pre-match training session on Thursday afternoon. 670 Werkself supporters are expected to be at the Stuttgart ground on Friday night.
Following the international break, the Bayer 04 women’s team face their next head-to-head clash in the race for a top spot in the Bundesliga. In Saturday’s home match (14:00 CEST), the fourth-placed side host third-placed Eintracht Frankfurt at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. Head coach Roberto Pätzold is well aware of the great opportunity this presents for his team.
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Bayer 04 make their first trip to Poland for over 30 years as they face Lech Poznan on Matchday 2 of the league phase in the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League. The game kicks off at 18:45 CEST on Thursday, but the team will be preparing for the action on Wednesday with training, travel and pre-match press conferences. We’ll bring you all the latest news here…
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Bayer 04 remain unbeaten in the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League. After winning the opener against NK Celje, the Werkself followed that up on Thursday night with a 4–0 win away at the Polish champions Lech Poznan. Patrik Schick, who came on as a substitute early in the game, scored twice from the penalty spot, and Malik Tillman also found the back of the net before half-time. The second half was a more subdued affair, with Ibrahim Maza scoring late on to seal the final 4-0 scoreline.
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Since 2023, Bayer 04 has been organising regular free goalkeeping coach training sessions at the BayArena. As in previous years, the event attracted enormous interest in mid-October 2026. Around 140 participants – mostly goalkeeping coaches from the region, but also team and academy coaches as well as association staff – came to the Werkself stadium to gain expert knowledge on the subject of zonal marking. Through a theoretical keynote presentation and a practical session on the pitch, the participants gained insights into goalkeeping and goalkeeper training at Bayer 04.
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