Stuttgart vs. Hoffenheim preview: Can VfB keep winning without Guirassy?
Hoffenheim make the short trip south on Saturday to face in-form Stuttgart, who are still riding high even without their main man up front.
Stuttgart
Stuttgart supporters are living the dream. Through eight matches, VfB sit ahead of Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga table and haven’t lost a game in over two months. It doesn’t get much better than this.
The loss of record-scorer Serhou Guirassy to injury stings, but Brighton loanee Deniz Undav will start in his place and he already has three goals to his name. It’s a return home for Angelo Stiller on Matchday 9, who completed his move from Hoffenheim in the summer.
From barely surviving the drop to on the verge of winning their seventh straight game in a row, European football is a real possibility if Stuttgart can keep up this level of consistency.
Sebastian Hoeneß stated, “I have to think about how we plan without Serhou Guirassy. That’s our task now, to find other solutions – and we’ll do that as a team,”
Team News
Guirassy, Josha Vagnoman, Fabian Bredlow, Nikolas Nartey, and Dennis Seimen are out. Dan-Axel Zagadou featured in team training this week, but he’s still questionable.
Hoffenheim
Hoffenheim are off to a solid start as well, as they sit 6th in the table despite two losses in their last three games. They importantly tied down sensational youngster Maximilian Beier, who can't stop scoring, to a contract extension this week.
It’s a busy upcoming week for all Bundesliga clubs with the second round of the DFB-Pokal, but Hoffenheim especially have a challenging matchup with Dortmund and can’t get caught looking ahead. Saturday will be an extra special day for Pellegrino Matarazzo, who faces the team he previously coached against former Hoffenheim manager Hoeneß.
In his presser, Matarazzo mentioned, "Guirassy was in world-class form, of course it is impossible to replace him like-for-like. But in Undav, Stuttgart have another striker that has already proved his quality."
Team News
Andrej Kramaric, Dennis Geiger, Stanley Nsoki, and Marco John remain unavailable. Ozan Kabak is expected to be back in the squad.