Stuttgart vs FC Köln preview: Matarazzo's side aiming to climb above Hertha
Stuttgart will be looking to move out of the bottom three on the final matchday, but they will face a Köln team that are motivated for all three points as they bid to climb into the top six.
| Pellegrino Matarazzo. |
Stuttgart
Stuttgart looked to have staved off automatic relegation, with Arminia Bielefeld three points adrift with an inferior goal difference.
It seems as though Die Schwaben are heading towards a relegation playoff with the third placed side in the 2. Bundesliga, but Stuttgart do have the chance to move out of the bottom three on the final matchday.
To avoid a playoff, Pellegrino Matarazzo's side need to beat Köln, while Hertha BSC would have to lose to Borussia Dortmund.
Although they are winless in their last six matches, Stuttgart would have taken confidence from the hard-fought point they picked up against champions Bayern Munich last weekend.
Tiago Tomás got Stuttgart off to a superb start at the Allianz Arena before strikes from Serge Gnabry and Thomas Müller restored order to proceedings. However, the visitors demonstrated great fight to hit back in the second half with Saša Kalajdžić finding the net seven minutes after the restart to ensure the spoils would be shared.
The draw with Bayern may have boosted confidence, but six victories in their 33 league games will not offer too much encouragement for the hosts, although they can draw inspiration from the fact that five of those six wins have taken place on home turf.
Team News
Stuttgart are still without the services of Pascal Stenzel, Naouirou Ahamada, Mohamed Sankoh and Silas.
FC Köln
Köln are assured of a Europa Conference League place, but they could still upgrade seventh spot to a Europa League qualification position.
If Steffan Baumgart's side are to move up to sixth place then they need to beat Stuttgart, while hoping that Union Berlin fail to beat Bochum.
Even if Die Geißböcke cannot improve on seventh position they will regard the season as an unmitigated success after being involved in the relegation playoff last term.
Although a run of four consecutive victories was ended by a 1-0 defeat to Wolfsburg last weekend, Köln have the chance to clinch a third consecutive away victory.
Their last two away games have been won by an aggregate 7-2 scoreline, while they have lost just two of their previous 11 away matches.
Köln will also take confidence from their last two competitive meetings with Stuttgart, which have both yielded victories.
Team News
The visitors will have to cope without the services of Sebastian Andersson and Jan Thielmann.