RB Leipzig vs Stuttgart

Red Bull Arena is the venue as RB Leipzig and Stuttgart go head-to-head in a tasty-looking Bundesliga showdown.

Leipzig seemed to be heading in the right direction after Dani Olmo’s stunning hat-trick inspired them to a 3-0 win over perennial Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich in a curtain-raising DFL-Supercup fixture. However, an opening-day trip to Bayer Leverkusen brought Marco Rose’s side back down to earth, as they slumped to a 3-2 defeat despite scoring on either side of halftime. The impending return to the Red Bull Arena looks like a presentable opportunity for ‘Die Roten Bullen’ to get off the mark in the new Bundesliga campaign after finishing the last one with four consecutive home league victories, three of which saw them net multiple goals. Adding to Leipzig’s confidence, they’ve had Stuttgart’s number since bursting onto the Bundesliga stage six years ago, winning all five top-flight H2Hs on home turf.

Meanwhile, it’s difficult to overlook the fact that Stuttgart had failed to score on their first four Bundesliga visits to the Red Bull Arena before slipping to a 2-1 defeat in this corresponding fixture last season. But despite losing highly-rated defender Konstantinos Mavropanos to West Ham, it’s been a perfect 2023/24 start for last season’s relegation scrappers. ‘Die Schwaben’ kicked things off this term with a routine 4-0 thumping of lower-league Balingen in the DFB-Pokal playoff round before putting five unanswered goals past Bochum in their Bundesliga curtain-raiser. Considering Stuttgart scored 2+ first-half goals in both of those wins, their perennial scoring woes at Leipzig may come to an early end this weekend.