Stuttgart vs. Hamburg preview: Schwaben to bounce back from Dortmund heartbreak | OneFootball

Stuttgart

Stuttgart welcome Hamburg to the south as they look to bounce back after the frustrating defeat against Borussia Dortmund, with late goals from Karim Adeyemi and Julian Brandt stunning the hosts, after Sebastian Hoeneß's side dominated large parts of the encounter. 

VfB are looking to continue mounting a push for Champions League football, with their chances aided by the stuttering form of Hoffenheim, who played out a 2-2 draw with Augsburg on Friday.

Dumped out of the Europa League by Porto in the last round, Stuttgart have been given some additional rest heading into Sunday's clash, given the fact that they would have been involved in a semi-final against Nottingham Forest on Thursday. 

With a tricky run coming up - Bayern away and a DFB-Pokal semi-final against Freiburg - a win this weekend would be a big momentum boost heading into the season's crunch point, where Die Schwaben are eyeing a return to Champions League football after last year's adventure. 

Team news 

On the injury front, things remain relatively simple for Hoeneß, with youngsters Justin Diehl and Lazar Jovanovic two of the three sidelined through injury, alongside Dan-Axel Zagadou, who has missed the majority of the last two terms.

Captain Atakan Karazor will miss the clash through suspension, which will see Chema Andres start alongside Angelo Stiller in midfield.

Predicted XI - 3-4-2-1: Nübel - Jeltsch, Chabot, Hendriks - Lewewling, Chema, Stiller, Mittelstädt - El Khannouss, Undav - Demirovic

Hamburg

Visitors Hamburg make the long trip down south knowing that their Bundesliga future is in their own hands with six to go.

Sitting 12th in the standings, Merlin Polzin's side have settled back into top-flight life seamlessly after an extended period away. 

Though they must keep up the pace heading into the final weeks of the campaign. 

The Red Shorts had one of their moments of the season against Sunday's opponents back in 2025, with Fabio Viera scoring a last-gasp winner at the Volksparkstadion - sending the place into raptures. 

Though the two sides have not met in Stuttgart since the 2022-23 relegation playoffs, when goals from Kostas Mavropoanos, Josha Vagnoman and Serhou Guirassy condemned HSV to a 3-0 defeat

The visitors are winless in three league outings, with draws against Köln and Augsburg sandwiching a 3-2 defeat away at Borussia Dortmund.

Team news

The big news coming from HSV at the moment is that star man Luka Vuskovic is set to miss Sunday's clash with a knee injury. 

The Tottenham loanee has played an integral role in the ongoing survival push and will be a big miss this weekend. 

Albert Sambi Lokonga is also absent, alongside Jean-Luc Dompe, Bakery Jatta, Alexander Røssing, Nicolas Capaldo and Yussuf Poulsen. 

Miro Muheim will also miss the clash at Neckarstadion through suspension.

Predicted XI - 3-5-2: Fernandes - Omari, Torunarigha, Elfadli - Mikelbrencis, Remberg, Viera, Grønbæk, Gocholeoshvili - Königsdörffer, Otele