Preview: Borussia Dortmund vs. Stuttgart - prediction, team news, lineups

The visitors, meanwhile, finally recorded their first league win of the campaign last time out.

Match preview

Having won four of their opening five matches in the Bundesliga this season, Dortmund have prevailed in only one of their five ensuing fixtures to fall to eighth in the table.

A creditable 2-2 draw against reigning champions Bayern Munich, particularly having fallen 2-0 down to Leroy Sane's 53rd-minute strike at Westfalenstadion, has been sandwiched by successive defeats on the road away to FC Koln and Union Berlin.

Goalkeeper Gregor Kobel was hugely to blame for last weekend's loss to the league leaders, as the 24-year-old slipped on a routine backpass to allow Janik Haberer to break the deadlock after only eight minutes, before he was beaten by the midfielder from distance 13 minutes later as BVB fell seven points behind their opponents.

Edin Terzic's side did at least beat Hannover 2-0 away from home in the second round of the DFB-Pokal in midweek, while they are on the cusp of reaching the Champions League knockout stages, but they must quickly return to winning ways if they are to stand a chance of competing for the Bundesliga title this season.

Stuttgart, meanwhile, had failed to win any of their nine matches prior to last weekend, but Die Roten finally got themselves off the mark having sacked Pellegrino Matarazzo in the build-up to their 4-1 win against VfL Bochum.

The American had enjoyed almost three years in his role as Stuttgart head coach, but after only narrowly avoiding relegation last season, the club was seemingly only heading in one direction under his tutelage.

Michael Wimmer remains interim manager after two thumping wins from two matches, with the board unlikely to be in any rush in terms of naming his permanent successor given the upturn in performances and results. Indeed, Silas's brace helped them down their potential relegation rivals last weekend, before Arminia Bielefeld were thrashed 6-0 in the DFB-Pokal in midweek.

Whether Stuttgart can show that type of form away to Dortmund on Saturday remains to be seen, but they appear to have had a weight removed from their shoulders by replacing Matarazzo in the dugout, while they can breathe a little easier having moved outside of the relegation places on goal difference, too.

Borussia Dortmund Bundesliga form:

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Borussia Dortmund form (all competitions):

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Stuttgart Bundesliga form:

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Stuttgart form (all competitions):

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Team News

Marius Wolf and Anthony Modeste did not travel to Hanover due to illness, and it remains to be seen whether the duo will be a part of the matchday squad against Stuttgart on Saturday.

Mateu Morey, Mahmoud Dahoud, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens and Sebastien Haller will all remain sidelined, but club captain Marco Reus should return to the squad having been rested in midweek following his serious ankle injury.

Karim Adeyemi was sent off late on during the cup win, but his suspension will only apply to the DFB-Pokal and he is therefore available for selection at the weekend.

Stuttgart, meanwhile, have a few injury concerns in the shape of Florian Muller, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Naouirou Ahamada, Dan-Axel Zagadou and Josha Vagnoman, none of whom featured in the rout against Arminia in midweek.

However, this was likely a precautionary measure from Wimmer, who should have almost a full squad to select from in Dortmund.

Borussia Dortmund possible starting lineup:

Kobel; Meunier, Hummels, Schlotterbeck, Guerreiro; Bellingham, Ozcan; Adeyemi, Brandt, Malen; Moukoko

Stuttgart possible starting lineup:

Muller; Mavropanos, Anton, Zagadou; Silas, Endo, Ahamada, Millot, Sosa; Pfeiffer, Tomas

We say: Borussia Dortmund 2-1 Stuttgart

We expect Dortmund to return to winning ways on Saturday, but the three points are unlikely to come easily against a rejuvenated Stuttgart side.

The visitors have scored 10 goals in two games since sacking Matarazzo, although they have not faced an opponent anywhere near the calibre of BVB even taking into account the hosts' recent drop off.

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