Preview: First half-season concludes in Stuttgart | OneFootball

The opening game of 2026 was a thriller and the next one is already around the corner in Stuttgart. Eintracht have rarely failed to pick up points against VfB recently.

How things stand

There is no rest for Eintracht this month, with seven fixtures on the calendar between 9 and 31 January. The Eagles kicked things off with a spectacular 3-3 draw against Borussia Dortmund at Deutsche Bank Park on Friday. 

“In hindsight, it was the right fixture to start off the Bundesliga in 2026,” said Hugo Larsson at PwC Players Talk after the final whistle. “I think it was an enjoyable game for neutrals, even though we would have liked to win.”

The Eagles will now head to Stuttgart, where they take on VfB at the MHP Arena on Tuesday 13 January (kick-off 18:30 CET). Sebastian Hoeneß’s side started the new year with a 4-1 away success at Bayer 04 Leverkusen, which lifted them up to fifth in the table on 29 points, two places and three points ahead of Eintracht. 

“Stuttgart are a direct rival for the positions we’ve set ourselves as a target,” Larsson told EintrachtTV. “It’s not easy to play there but in the past we’ve shown that we can take something from these games.”

Victory on Tuesday would move the Eagles level on points with VfB. “We have to take our belief into our coming games,” said sporting director Timmo Hardung. “We need to be aware that we must have this level of intensity, both in attack and in defence, on the pitch every three days – especially on Tuesday in Stuttgart. We want to build on what we started against Dortmund, perhaps with a bit more conviction and luck at the back. Then two or three goals will be enough to win.”

Looking forward

Winter signings Younes Ebnoutalib and Arnaud Kalimuendo were in the spotlight for Eintracht against Dortmund. “Both of them made an immediate impact and showed a high work rate,” said Manfred Binz, who made over 400 appearances for Eintracht, after Friday’s game. “They were always involved and played really well.” Ebnoutalib crowned his debut with his first Eintracht goal – which was set up by none other than Kalimuendo.

Can Uzun, whose penalty to make it 1-1 against Dortmund was his sixth Bundesliga goal of the season – to go with his three assists – now has more direct goal contributions than any other Eintracht player in 2025/26. 

For VfB, Deniz Undav is invariably involved in his team’s goals. The 29-year-old scored one and set up two more on Saturday evening in Leverkusen, taking his tally to nine goals and two assists in the Bundesliga in 2025/26.