Hoffenheim vs Stuttgart: Team News and predicted line-ups | OneFootball

A top-four six-pointer is set to be played out this weekend between Hoffenheim and Stuttgart as they go head-to-head with just three games remaining. 

After staying as a favourite to qualify for the Champions League for most of the season, the Sinsheimers dropped down the table following an underwhelming run since a 3-0 victory over Freiburg in mid-February. They could manage just one win in seven games during that period, and defeats to St. Pauli, RB Leipzig, and Mainz dampened their momentum. 

Christian Ilzer’s men have rebounded from that rut with consecutive 2-1 victories recently over Bundesliga runners-up candidates Borussia Dortmund and Hamburg. Six points from these two outings helped Die Kraichgauer go level on points (57) with this weekend’s rivals, Stuttgart, trailing them by only a four-goal difference. 

Hoffenheim will miss the likes of Valentin Gendrey and Koki Machida due to injuries. Vladimír Coufal, Ozan Kabak, Albian Hajdari and Bernardo will feature in defence in front of goalkeeper Oliver Baumann. Grischa Prömel is suspended for the match after picking up his fifth yellow card of the campaign against Hamburg. 

As for Stuttgart, their fourth-placed position will be tested against their league rivals this weekend, and a defeat would mean dropping down to the Europa League places. However, this has been an important season for head coach Sebastian Hoeneß, as his team are now fighting for a top-four finish and are in the mix to retain their DFB-Pokal title following a ninth-placed finish last campaign. 

Since a 4-0 victory over Die Rothosen earlier this month, Stuttgart have gone through two winless games, and the 1-1 draw against Werder Bremen in their last match left them in a threatened position in the league standings. Saturday’s fixture is set to be a decisive one for either side, and Die Roten will hope to make the leap for the Champions League in the next one. 

Hoeneß will be without defenders Ameen Al Dakhil and Finn Jeltsch due to knee and abdominal injuries, respectively. Ramon Hendriks and Jeff Chabot will feature as centre-backs. Bilal El Khannouss, Deniz Undav and Jamie Leweling are set to start behind Ermedin Demirović in attack. 

Here are the predicted line-ups for the Bundesliga match between Hoffenheim and Stuttgart

Hoffenheim: Baumann – Coufal, Kabak, Hajdari, Bernardo – Avdullahu – Kramarić, Burger -Lemperle, Asllani, Touré.

Stuttgart: Nübel – Assignon, Jaquez, Chabot, Hendriks – Karazor, Stiller – Leweling, Undav, El Khannouss -Demirović. 

GGFN | Trambak Bhattacherjee