Stuttgart vs. Hertha BSC preview: A match with major relegation battle consequences
In Stuttgart's last home game of 2022, Hertha BSC come to town in a contest between the current 15th and 16th-best teams in the league.
VfB Stuttgart
In Michael Wimmer's first five competitive games at the helm, Stuttgart have won three. While hopes have slightly improved, they still sit dangerously in 16th-place through 13 games.
Stuttgart lost to Gladbach on Friday and desperately need to start picking up consistent points to create some breathing room between themselves and the bottom two. Josha Vagnoman's return at right-back is huge for the Swabians, but the back-line is looking quite thin.
Left-back Borna Sosa leads the club in assists (four) and is pushing way up the pitch.
Wimmer commented, "Hertha play a good and intense pressing game; act well after winning the ball and have a very good coach on the sidelines. - I am looking forward to the last two games before the winter break, in which we want to score as well as possible."
Team News
Enzo Millot, Tanguy Coulibaly, Hiroki Ito and Dan-Axel Zagadou are all question marks for Tuesday.
Hertha BSC
The capital club expectedly lost to Bayern on Saturday, but it was closer than most would have predicted. Hertha look far more organized and disciplined under Sandro Schwarz, but are still struggling for wins on the season.
Dodi Lukebakio has been Hertha's best player up front by far to start the campaign and he could really use some help. The defense is playing some decent football, but the offense is still searching for more consistent goal-scorers.
Hertha haven't won in their last six games at the Mercedes-Benz Arena.
Schwarz emphasized, "We know what the table looks like at the moment. But we're not just going to sulk about getting unlucky, which is something we didn't do last week either. We simply have to keep improving in certain areas."
Team News
Marton Dardai, Stevan Jovetic, Jessic Ngankam, Kelian Nsona and Dongjun Lee are all unavailable. Linus Gechter is questionable, while Rune Jarstein is no longer a part of the team.