VfB Stuttgart vs. Borussia Mönchengladbach preview: Winless Foals looking to avoid unwanted Bundesliga record
| Maximilian Mittelstädt and Grischa Prömel in action for VfB Stuttgart against Atletico Madrid. | Alex Grimm/Getty Images |
Stuttgart
After sealing their return to the Champions League last season, Stuttgart have endured an underwhelming start to the Bundesliga campaign, with just six points on the board after six matches.
Sebastian Hoeneß's side fell to a 1-0 loss away at Hamburg last Saturday, with Miro Muheim netting a late winner in a clash dominated by Stuttgart.
As a result, Die Schwaben sit 13th ahead of Friday, whilst they are in desperate need of three points to finally get up and running in the league.
Tuesday's performance and result against Atletico Madrid could aid massively in making that happen.
Jamie Leweling opened the scoring against Los Colchoneros, before Julian Alvarez equalised shortly into the second half.
However, VfB put in a fantastic performance against the Spanish giants, with the goal now to carry the confidence into the Gladbach clash.
Team news
Stuttgart will be without Josha Vagnoman on Friday, after the right-back suffered a thigh injury during the European draw, while Nikolas Nartey, Tiago Tomas, Justin Diehl and Dan-Axel Zagadou also continue their respective recoveries.
Click here to see our predicted Stuttgart lineup
Borussia Mönchengladbach
Things could hardly have gone worse for Gladbach, who arrive in Stuttgart sitting bottom of the Bundesliga with six defeats from their opening six matches.
Alexander Blessin's side are now in danger of making unwanted history, with no team having ever lost their opening seven matches of a Bundesliga season.
The appointment of the former St. Pauli boss has done little to arrest their slide so far, with successive 2-1 defeats against Köln and Hoffenheim leaving the Foals as the only side in the division yet to collect a point.
There was at least a positive to take from last Sunday's defeat, with 17-year-old Wael Mohya scoring the equaliser against Hoffenheim before the visitors regained their lead.
Friday also marks a return to familiar surroundings for Blessin, who was born in Bad Cannstatt and represented both VfB and the Stuttgarter Kickers during his playing days.
Team news
Gladbach's problems are compounded by an extensive injury list, with Blessin set to be without nine players for Friday's encounter.
Isac Lidberg is the latest addition after suffering muscular problems against Hoffenheim, joining fellow forwards Tim Kleindienst and Nicolas Kühn on the sidelines.
Franck Honorat, Ko Itakura, Jens Castrop, Fritz Fleck, Jan Leszczyński and Enzo Leopold are also unavailable.
With both Lidberg and Kleindienst ruled out, Shuto Machino is expected to lead the line for Die Fohlen.
