Stuttgart vs. Union Berlin preview: Can the visitors end their winless run?

Union Berlin

Stuttgart are currently sitting in ninth position after winning four, drawing five and losing three of their 12 league matches. Die Schwaben have proven tough to beat in their recent league outings have lost just one of their previous five Bundesliga matches (W2, D2). They kicked off that run of results with a 2-1 win over Holstein Kiel, before they held champions Bayer Leverkusen to a goalless draw at the BayArena. 

After going on to lose to Eintracht Frankfurt, die Schwaben bounced back to record a 2-0 victory in their home meeting against struggling Bochum. They then showed great character to come from behind on two occasions in last Saturday’s 2-2 draw against Werder Bremen, which came courtesy of an Ermedin Demirović brace. 

Sebastian Hoeneß’s side dispatched Jahn Regenburg via a 3-0 scoreline in the DFB-Pokal in midweek, ensuring they will head into Friday’s contest in a positive mood. The hosts can take confidence from the fact they have won three of their previous five home matches in the Bundesliga. They have also won each of their last three competitive meetings with Union, including a 2-0 win when the two sides faced off at the MHPArena in March.

Team News

Hoeneß has confirmed that Jamie Leweling remains unavailable for Friday’s fixture. The Stuttgart boss is also without the services of Dan-Axel Zagadou, Nikolas Nartey, Luca Raimund, Ameen Al-Dakhil, Deniz Undav and El Bilal Touré.

Union Berlin

Union have drawn two and lost four of their last six competitive matches since beating Holstein Keil on October 20. They began that poor run of form with a satisfactory draw against Frankfurt, before they fell to away defeats against Arminia Bielefeld and Bayern Munich in the cup and league respectively. After playing out a goalless affair with Freiburg, Union went on to lose consecutive matches against Wolfsburg and Leverkusen.

Jeong Woo-yeong cancelled out Jeremie Frimpong’s opener against Leverkusen, only for Patrik Schick to net a 71st-minute winner to condemn Union to a 2-1 defeat, leaving them in 11th place in the Bundesliga table. After losing at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei, Union will now head on their travels for Friday’s tricky fixture. The visitors have struggled on the road this season, having won one, drawn two and lost three of their six away league matches. They have also lost their last two away games against Stuttgart since they recorded a 1-0 away win in October 2022.

Team News

The visitors are without the injured trio of Yannic Stein, Andrej Ilić and Oluwaseun Ogbemudia, while Kevin Volland will miss Friday’s away trip through illness