RB Leipzig will try to sneak into the European places when they face Stuttgart on the final day of the season.
| Photo by Maja Hitij/Getty Images |
RB Leipzig
Leipzig are at risk of missing European football after failing to win any of their last four matches since beating Wolfsburg on April 11. Die Roten Bullen drew with Holstein Kiel and Bayern Munich, either side of a heavy defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt, before they played out a goalless affair with Werder Bremen last weekend.
As a result of their underwhelming form, Leipzig have slipped down to seventh place in the Bundesliga table. They are currently level on points with Mainz 05 in sixth position, while they are three points adrift of Borussia Dortmund in fifth spot, but catching die Schwarzgelben will be near impossible due to their inferior goal difference.
While a Europa League spot may effectively be out of reach, Leipzig will secure Conference League qualification if they better Mainz’s result. There is a highly unlikely scenario where Leipzig could still overtake Mainz even if both teams win, but die Roten Bullen would have to make up six goals on die Nullfünfer.
Leipzig can take confidence from the fact that they boast a 100% record in home league meetings with Stuttgart, having won each of their six encounters at Red Bull Arena, including a dominant 5-1 victory in their last home clash in August 2023.
Team News
Interim boss Zsolt Löw is unable to call upon Benjamin Henrichs, Amadou Haidara and Xaver Schlager, while Lukas Klostermann will serve a one-match ban for an accumulation of yellow cards.
Stuttgart
Stuttgart enter the final matchday in ninth place after winning 13, drawing eight and losing 12 of their 33 league matches this season. They are sitting four points adrift of the top six, meaning they cannot secure European qualification via the league. However, they can still qualify for the Europa League via the DFB-Pokal, with Sebastian Hoeneß’s side set to face third-tier Arminia Bielefeld in next Saturday’s final in Berlin.
While they may be focusing on their final cup final appearance since 2013, Stuttgart will still want to finish their Bundesliga campaign on a high note, especially as they can continue to build momentum ahead of the showpiece event. Die Schwaben are looking to claim a third consecutive victory after following a 1-0 win over St. Pauli with a commanding 4-0 victory over Augsburg last weekend. Having recorded back-to-back clean sheets, Stuttgart now have the opportunity to clinch three successive Bundesliga shutouts for the first time since April/May 2018.
Although they have never won an away game against Leipzig, Stuttgart can still take confidence from the fact that they have already recorded two home victories over die Roten Bullen this season. They clinched a 2-1 victory in January’s Bundesliga meeting, before they beat them 3-1 in April’s DFB-Pokal semi-final clash.
Team News
Stuttgart are without Leonidas Stergiou, Dan-Axel Zagadou, Anrie Chase, Luca Raimund and Ameen Al-Dakhil. Meanwhile, Yannik Keitel and Angelo Stiller are unavailable after they picked up injuries in the win over Augsburg.
