Stuttgart vs Borussia Dortmund

MHPArena is the venue as Stuttgart and Borussia Dortmund trade tackles in a top-four Bundesliga six-pointer.

Stuttgart’s fantastic form at the start of the new Bundesliga campaign has spiraled to disarray after talismanic striker Serhou Guirassy succumbed to injury, with ‘Die Schwaben’ losing twice in a row following an outstanding run of seven wins in their opening eight league games (L1). Last weekend’s disappointing 2-0 defeat at newly-promoted Heidenheim marked Stuttgart’s first scoring blank in ten league matches this season despite racking up 2.92 xG. The hosts’ recent decline in form hasn’t affected their lofty ambitions amid the club’s best top-flight start in over two decades as they begin this round in third. Sebastian Hoeness’ men have been firing on all cylinders, tallying an eye-catching 27 goals across the first ten Bundesliga matches, which is their most prolific top-flight start since 1996/97.

For years, scoring has been Borussia Dortmund’s strong suit, and nothing has changed this term, with Edin Terzic’s lads averaging 2.00 goals per game in the opening ten Bundesliga rounds. Interestingly, since a 1-1 draw at Bochum on their first league travel of the season, ‘Die Borussen’ have netted 3+ goals on their last three Bundesliga trips (W2, D1), most recently hauling back a two-goal deficit to hold Eintracht Frankfurt to a goal-glutted 3-3 draw. That was the scoreline when Dortmund met Stuttgart in this fixture last season, extending an impressive run of scoring 2+ goals at the MHPArena to four games. Confidence should be at an all-time high in the visiting camp after a 2-0 home win over Newcastle United in the Champions League catapulted them to second in the ‘group of death.’