Hoffenheim vs. Stuttgart preview: Ilzer's charges targeting back-to-back wins
| Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images |
Hoffenheim
Hoffenheim are languishing in 15th place after winning five, drawing six and losing 11 of their 22 league matches this season. They may be sitting just outside the bottom three, but they currently enjoy a seven-point cushion to the danger zone. After taking one point from three matches, Christian Ilzer’s side returned to winning ways in last Sunday’s away clash against Werder Bremen. They fought back from a goal down to record a 3-1 victory thanks to goals from Anton Stach, Tom Bischof and Gift Orban.
The result also represented their second victory in three away league games, but they will now return to the PreZero Arena where they have failed to win each of their previous five Bundesliga home matches. As a result, they will enter Sunday’s fixture with aspirations of claiming their first top-flight home victory since beating RB Leipzig 4-3 in November. They will be desperate to find the breakthrough against Stuttgart, having scored first in just three of their 11 home league games this season.
Team News
The hosts are unable to call upon Ozan Kabak, Umut Tohumcu, Valentin Gendrey, Oliver Baumann, Christopher Lenz, Grischa Prömel, Ihlas Bebou and Diadié Samassékou.
Stuttgart
Stuttgart will head into Sunday’s fixture in seventh position with four points separating them from the top four. Sebastian Hoeneß’s side are currently experiencing an underwhelming spell of form in the Bundesliga after losing three of their previous four league matches. They lost back-to-back league games against Mainz and Borussia Mönchengladbach, before they recorded a narrow away win over Borussia Dortmund.
Unfortunately for Stuttgart, they were unable to back up that result in their most recent meeting with Wolfsburg despite taking the lead through Nick Woltemade. Former Stuttgart man Tiago Tomás cancelled out Woltemade’s opener, before Mohamed Amoura netted an 87th-minute penalty to condemn die Schwaben to consecutive home league defeats.
They will be hopeful of experiencing better fortunes on their travels, having won three of their previous four Bundesliga away matches. They will also have fond memories of last season’s trip to the PreZero Arena when they ran out 3-0 winners against Hoeneß’s former employers.
Team News
Stuttgart are without the services of Dan-Axel Zagadou, Luca Raimund, Ameen Al-Dakhil and El Bilal Touré.
