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betting » Previews » VfB Stuttgart - Hamburger SV

VfB Stuttgart - Hamburger SV

By Joachim, BettingExpert.com | Edited


Four matchdays before the end of the season VfB Stuttgart, threatened by the prospect of relegation, plays at home against Hamburg, who are by now almost out of the Europa League race. For both sides this is absolutely a must-win situation.

Bundesliga | VfB Stuttgart - Hamburger SV
While the efforts of their mascots must be applauded, the actual teams did rather badly this season.
Good news for head coach Michael Oenning this week: Against all odds the club decided to give him a chance, so he will have the possibility to help rebuild the only original member of the Bundesliga that never got relegated (which is why their mascot is a dinosaur, by the way). Hamburh have quite a way to go, the expensive squad needs to be reduced both in terms of size and salary - which clearly is something that players like Jonathan Pitroipa, Guy Demel, Marcell Jansen, Paolo Guerrero or Eljero Elia will feel threatened by, and rightfully so. Slacking seems no longer like an option, and there are only four games left to convince the club officials. For their match against Stuttgart there will likely be two changes in the squad, the injured Ruud van Nistelrooy and Tunay Torun will be replaced by Paolo Guerrero and Änis Ben-Hatira respectively.

Stuttgart have the opportunity to bag an extremely valuable victory here, last weekend the VfB managed to defeat Cologne away, despite them having an outstanding home record, and managed to pull four points clear of the relegation zone. It is looking good for Bruno Labbadia's squad, but they still have a very tough schedule ahead in the remaining four matches, where apart from Hamburg they have to play Hoffenheim, Hannover 96 and Bayern Munich. But no matter how tough the opposition, Stuttgart need to keep winning points in order to successfully avoid relegation. There won't be any changes to the line-up since last weekend - captain Matthieu Delpierre won't make the starting eleven once again.

Voraussichtliche AufstellungenProbable line-ups

VfB Stuttgart:

Ulreich - Boulahrouz, Tasci, Niedermeier, Molinaro - Träsch, Kuzmanovic - Harnik, Hajnal, Okazaki - Cacau

Missing:

Bicakcic, Degen, Audel, Gebhart, Marica

Hamburger SV:

Rost - Diekmeier, Kacar, Westermann, Aogo - Jarolim - Ben-Hatira, Zé Roberto, Elia - Guerrero, Petric

Missing:

Mathijsen, Castelen, van Nistelrooy

Verdict:

Hamburg are somewhat of a feared opponent for Stuttgart, having won 40 matches out of a total of 91, while VfB only won 31 of those. Only against Bayern Munich Stuttgart have a worse record. Bruno Labbadia's squad is the favorite anyway, due to the late form and fighting pirit they have shown over the last few games of the season. Saturday will mark another victory for the Swabians, and securing 36 points should bring them a huge step closer to staying in the Bundesliga. Meanwhile Hamburg are left to rebuild, without getting to play internationally.


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betting » Previews » VfB Stuttgart - Hamburger SV