Stuttgart will be expecting to earn their 10th league win in 13 matches when they host Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga on Saturday.
The visitors, meanwhile, have won just one of their last seven games to slide closer to the relegation zone.
Match preview
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Stuttgart know all about harbouring relegation fears having finished 15th in the 2021-22 season before beating second-tier side Hamburger SV in a two-legged playoff to survive last time out, but those struggles seem like a distant memory based on current form.
Sebastian Hoeness's side earned their ninth league victory of the season with a superb 2-1 win away to Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga's most recent Saturday evening kickoff slot, with Deniz Undav scoring in the first and last minutes of the first half either side of Waldemar Anton's own goal.
Frankfurt had only been beaten once in 11 league matches prior to their defeat to Stuttgart, who continue to go from strength-to-strength under Hoeness. The former Hoffenheim boss has won 17 of his 26 matches since taking charge in April earlier this year, which included taking Die Schwaben from the brink of relegation to safety.
RB Leipzig's 2-1 defeat to Wolfsburg meant that Stuttgart opened up a four-point gap within the Champions League positions, while they will host Borussia Dortmund at the last-16 stage of the DFB-Pokal after facing Werder Bremen this weekend. It may be a little premature for Stuttgart's fans to be thinking about competing in Europe's elite competition and winning a trophy, but at least they are dreaming once again.
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Werder Bremen, on the other hand, will know that this season is primarily about safety having significantly dipped in the second half of their first season back in the Bundesliga last time out.
Die Werderaner were massively outclassed by league leaders Bayer Leverkusen last weekend, with Xabi Alonso's side running out 3-0 winners at Weserstadion. Olivier Deman's own goal handed Leverkusen the lead after only nine minutes, with strikes from the visitors' wing-backs Jeremie Frimpong and Alex Grimaldo handing them a comfortable victory as they moved back to the top of the table.
Despite having home advantage on their side, Ole Werner's side managed just two shots across the course of the encounter, which came as a major surprise considering that they had scored two goals in each of their previous three matches. The defeat was their seventh in 12 matches, leaving them going at a rate of less than one-point-per game.
While they have a cushion above the relegation places for now, Werner will be concerned that is chipped away at any further, which may prove to be the case, if they fall to another loss against one of the Bundesliga's high-flying sides on Saturday.
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Stuttgart's victory against Frankfurt was made all the more impressive by the fact that they did not call upon star attackers Serhou Guirassy or Silas until the second half, with Undav continuing to do the business in front of goal for them.
Hoeness is clearly being careful with Guirassy after the Guinea forward's recent hamstring injury, but he may join Undav in attack from the outset against Werder Bremen. Nikolas Nartey remains sidelined with a serious knee injury, but otherwise Hoeness appears to have a fully-fit squad at his disposal.
Werder Bremen, meanwhile, will travel without Nicolai Rapp and Leon Opitz due to injury, but they should have former Liverpool midfielder Naby Keita available once again. Guirassy's compatriot missed his side's defeat to Leverkusen due to illness.
Werner could restore Jiri Pavlenka in goal after preferring Michael Zetterer in recent weeks, while the likes of Felix Agu, Niklas Stark, Senne Lynen and Christian Gross will all be hoping to earn recalls to their manager's starting XI.
Stuttgart possible starting lineup:
Nubel; Anton, Zagadou, Ito, Mittelstadt; Millot, Stiller, Karazor, Fuhrich; Guirassy, Undav
Werder Bremen possible starting lineup:
Pavlenka; Veljkovic, Friedl, Jung; Weiser, Schmid, Stage, Bittencourt, Agu; Borre, Ducksch
We say: Stuttgart 2-1 Werder Bremen
Werder Bremen were humbled by Leverkusen's dominance during their defeat last weekend, but things do not get much easier for them here with a trip to in-form Stuttgart. The hosts have already won two more matches than in each of the last two seasons.
We can envisage them earning a 10th victory in 13 matches by dispatching Werder Bremen on Saturday, but it may be closer than expected. Both sides are better offensively than defensively, so it should be an entertaining clash at MHPArena.
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Brett Curtis
