Stuttgart vs. Hoffenheim - Stats, Facts, Preview

Equal match-up

• A win for 11th-placed Hoffenheim (30 points) would see them draw level with opponents Stuttgart, who are currently in ninth place (33 points). 
• Stuttgart’s goal difference of +8 is markedly better than Hoffenheim’s (-2), meaning that TSG would only leapfrog their opponents with a win by six goals or more.

Stuttgart’s form sees them back in the top half

• VfB Stuttgart are unbeaten in 4 Bundesliga games, a run featuring 2 wins (1-0 vs. Köln, 5-1 vs. Schalke) and 2 draws (1-1 vs. Hertha, 1-1 vs. Frankfurt). 
• Stuttgart overtook Gladbach to go ninth in the table on the last matchday and are back in the top half of the table for the first time since matchday 13.

Best run under Hoeneß

• TSG 1899 Hoffenheim are also unbeaten in their last 4 Bundesliga games – their best unbeaten run of the season and the first time they’ve gone this long without defeat under Sebastian Hoeneß. 
• They’ve won 2 at home and drawn 2 away from home in this time.

Stuttgart feeling at home in the Bundesliga

• Stuttgart already have 5 more points on the board this season (33) than they managed in the whole of their relegation campaign in 2018/19 (28). 
• It’s their best return after 24 games for 11 years, since they had 34 points at this stage in 2009/10. Not bad for a newly promoted side!

Kalajdzic chasing Bobic’s club record

• Sasa Kalajdzic scored his 12th goal of the season last time out against Frankfurt. 
• He’s Stuttgart’s top scorer this season, ahead of Wamangituka on 11 goals. The 23-year-old Austrian has scored in each of his last 6 Bundesliga appearances (7 goals in total) – the longest scoring run by a Stuttgart player in the Bundesliga since Sean Dundee in 2002. 
• The only Stuttgart player to score in more consecutive BL games was Fredi Bobic, who scored in seven straight games in 1995/96.

Finally, some home form

• Stuttgart seem to have put their long struggles at the Mercedes-Benz Arena behind them: for the first time this season, VfB have gone 4 Bundesliga home games unbeaten, with 2 wins (2-0 vs. Mainz and 5-1 vs. Schalke) and 2 draws (2-2 vs. Gladbach, 1-1 vs. Hertha). 
• Three of their next 4 games are at home (vs. Hoffenheim, Bremen and Dortmund), while their only away trip in this time is against Bayern on matchday 26.

Hoffenheim’s good away run

Hoffenheim have gone unbeaten in back-to-back away games for the first time under Sebastian Hoeneß, after they followed up a 2-2 draw with Dortmund with a 1-1 draw with Union Berlin. They went 1-0 down in both games.

Matarazzo is a former TSG man

• Pellegrino Matarazzo was a coach at Hoffenheim from summer 2017 to the end of 2019 (as U17 coach and then assistant first-team coach), before he joined Stuttgart. 
• Aside from a couple of new signings, Matarazzo knows this weekend’s opponents incredibly well.

Six goals, seven players missing in the reverse fixture

• A wild game in the reverse fixture saw the sides draw 3-3, with Marc-Oliver Kempf earning a point for Stuttgart in the third minute of added time. 
• Stuttgart deserved a point after being by far the better side in the first half, but Hoffenheim came back strongly after the break. 
• It was a peculiar game for TSG in particular, as they were without 7 first-team players (Adamyan, Dabbur, Belfodil, Bruun Larsen, Rudy, Skov and Vogt) due to a slate of positive COVID-19 tests.

A keeper of a deal

• Stuttgart goalkeeper Gregor Kobel joined Hoffenheim from the Grasshoppers Zürich academy in 2014, but he was unable to displace the constant presence of Oliver Baumann in goal. 
• Last season, he was sent on loan to Stuttgart before returning in the summer, but once again the number 1 jersey was given to Baumann. 
• Kobel joined Stuttgart for €4 million in July 2020, signing a deal until 2024. 
• It’s worked out as a good deal for both parties, as Kobel is having a great season with Stuttgart and Baumann continued to impress in goal for TSG, especially on the European stage.

Baumgartner’s goal threat

• Christoph Baumgartner extended his Hoffenheim contract by two years to 2025 on 5th March. 
• Just one day later, the 21-year-old then scored the opener against Wolfsburg. 
• It was his fifth goal of the season – his first came in the 3-3 draw with Stuttgart earlier this season (that was also the opening goal of the game).

Time’s up for Stuttgart’s captain?

• Stuttgart captain Gonzalo Castro started on the bench for just the third time this season last time out. 
• This time, he didn’t make it onto the pitch – for only the second time this season (also the 3-0 loss to Bielefeld). 
• It seems the younger generation of Förster, Coulibaly and co. are starting to replace the 33-year-old.

Hoffenheim save Stuttgart’s record

After 673 minutes without conceding a Bundesliga goal, Wolfsburg’s Koen Casteels saw his defences breached by Hoffenheim last time out. The all-time Bundesliga record stays with former Stuttgart keeper Timo Hildebrand.

Will Samassekou score his first goal on a landmark day?

Hoffenheim’s Diadie Samassekou is on the brink of his 50th competitive appearance for TSG. He’s still waiting for his first goal in a Hoffenheim shirt.

Watch for the counter

Hoffenheim have scored 8 goals on the counter this season – a league high, level with Bayern. Stuttgart sit just behind them with 7 goals scored on the break.