Bundesliga: Dortmund vs Stuttgart can make huge Waves

Borussia Dortmund vs VfB Stuttgart

When I looked at this weekend’s European fixtures, Bundesliga: Dortmund vs Stuttgart caught my eye as a match to watch, pitching the under-performing BVB against a side pushing for a Champions League place.

Seb Hoeness’s Stuttgart are up in fifth place while BVB languish in 11^th but, believe it or not, in a congested chasing pack a 3-0 home win would see Die Schwarzgelben leapfrog their visitors. Yes, only three points separate the two teams, in fact Dortmund are only four points behind Red Bull Leipzig in fourth…that’s how crazy this German Euro charge is!  

The Dortmund vs Stuttgart betting odds say this is a home win and that would mean both teams finish the weekend on 32 points. And Borussia have a new man in the dugout as Niko Kovac has taken over at the Signal Iduna Park after the sacking of Nuri Sahin in the aftermath of a Champions League defeat to Bologna. Since he arrived at the club the new man has stemmed a flow of defeats and the club has had success in both Europe and Germany, last time out Borussia Dortmund won 2-1 away to Heidenheim. Meanwhile Stuttgart lost 2-1 at home to Borussia Monchengladbach to lose ground in the race for a top four place, though Die Roten had a success in midweek, beating Augsburg 1-0 in the DFB Pokal quarter final. 

 

Talking Points

Kovac’s handy start in Borussia

After a quiet transfer window, the main highlight being Donyell Malen’s move to Aston Villa, Dortmund will go pretty much with what they have, though young Chelsea midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka joined on loan until the end of the season. on the day before Kovac’s arrival BVB beat Shakhtar Donetsk 3-1 to qualify as a seeded club in the Champions League play-offs and, under the guidance of the new man, they followed that up with a win in Heidenheim. Former Stuttgart man Serhou Guirassy scored a brace in the cup match and another goal in the Bundesliga win and the VfB defence know just how lethal the Guinean can be, as he scored 28 goals in 28 games with them last season, before his headline transfer to Dortmund in the summer.

Kovac has had a re-union already with former player Niklas Sule who was a key defender in his time at Bayern Munich but is currently out injured, and he has already confirmed that defender Emre Can will continue as club captain. And Chukwuemeka will join a talented creative group which includes Jamie Bynoe-Gittens and Julian Brandt, spearheaded by Guirassy. The 21 year old has had limited opportunity at Stamford Bridge since his £20m transfer from Aston Villa and BVB have an option to buy at the end of the loan.

Things have been going quite nicely on and off the field for Kovac since his arrival; these are early days but the signs are good.               

 

Stuttering Stuttgart

Defeats to FSV Mainz and then Monchengladbach, sandwiched by a 4-1 hammering at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain, have taken the winds out of Stuttgart’s sails. Die Roten are out of the Champions League and also out of the Bundesliga top four and Hoeness was not in the best of moods after the league loss to Die Fohlen, saying: “We’re not satisfied, we’re disappointed. We only rarely managed to make chances and we weren’t even able to see a 1-1 draw over the line. We need to improve because we were in a good position and we gave it away far too cheaply.”

VfB were more compact and took their chance in the DFB Pokal win over Augsburg as Deniz Undav scored on the half hour after being teed up by Ermedi Demirovic; and the hosts thoroughly deserved their win, with 60 per cent possession and 12 shots to six. Demirovic is top scoring in the league with eight goals and the front two have struck up a fruitful relationship which could help Stuttgart get back on track.

 

History

With 29 wins to 20 BVB have had the better of the head to head Dortmund vs Stuttgart results but VfB gave Borussia a 5-1 slapping on the fourth week of the current campaign as Undav scored two and Demirovic was also in on the act.

Neither team has been in consistent form over the past six games; Stuttgart have won three and lost three, while Dortmund have won two, drawn one and lost three over that time.

 

Betting Tip

But, with back to back wins fresh in their minds BVB are favourites to win this six-pointer while Stuttgart can be backed at SBOTOP odds of 3.23 and the draw is at 3.45.  

For a correct score-line, a 2-1 home win is priced at 7.62 and that would turn a nice start into a very good start for Kovac.  

   

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