Squad news: In addition to Romano Schmid (MCL tear) and Felix Agu (patellar tendon issues), Manuel Mbom (calf muscle stiffness) and Mitchell Weiser (yellow-card suspension) will also miss Sunday’s match. New signing Maximilian Philipp did not train recently due to ankle pain. “He rolled his ankle in training yesterday,” head coach Ole Werner shared at the pre-match press conference on Friday. “He’s a doubt at the moment, but we’re hoping he will be back on the pitch tomorrow and will be able to feature against Stuttgart.” Leonardo Bittencourt, who missed the win against Wolfsburg due to illness, will be able to return this weekend.
The opponent: Stuttgart are in the bottom third of the table with 16 points from 18 games. They have only been worse off at this stage twice before, and were relegated at the end of both campaigns. In order to avoid dropping down to the second division again, the Swabians brought in reinforcements ahead of the winter break. Head coach Pellegrino Matarazzo was let go in October, as Bruno Labbadia returned for his second stint in charge of the club. The 2007 Bundesliga champions were also active in the transfer market over the break, bringing in Genki Haraguchi and Gil Dias in order to replace Naouirou Ahamada and Alexis Tibidi. “They are very compact and aggressive in defence. The spirit within VfB’s team is also high, just like ours. It could therefore be a very entertaining match,” Werner said.