Preview: Stuttgart vs. Werder Bremen - prediction, team news, lineups

The visitors, meanwhile, returned to winning ways with an impressive 2-1 victory against Wolfsburg last weekend.

Match preview

Having returned from the World Cup with two successive draws, Stuttgart put in a spirited performance despite losing 2-1 away to RB Leipzig last Friday.

The hosts are on an unbeaten run of 17 matches in all competitions under Marco Rose ahead of this weekend's action, so there was certainly no disgrace in falling to defeat at the Red Bull Arena. Dominik Szoboszlai's strikes either side of half-time ultimately proved enough to secure all three points for his side, despite Chris Fuhrich's penalty making things interesting 22 minutes from full-time.

Bruno Labbadia, who was appointed in December to embark on his second spell as manager at the club, did manage to secure his first win since re-joining the club with a 2-1 victory away to SC Paderborn in the DFB-Pokal on Tuesday.

Stuttgart looked in danger of suffering a minor upset against the second tier side when Konstantinos Mavropanos scored an own goal after only three minutes, but late strikes from Gil Dias and Serhou Guirassy saw Die Schwaben progress to the quarter-finals for the first time in seven years.

Labbadia's side head into the weekend outside of the bottom three on goal difference only, and that could change should VfL Bochum or Hertha Berlin pick up positive results on Saturday. As such, the 56-year-old will be determined to see his side build on Tuesday's win by securing a vital victory in the league.

However, that will not be easy to pull off against Werder Bremen, who will head to Baden-Wurttemberg full of confidence after putting an end to their losing streak with a surprising 2-1 win against Wolfsburg last weekend.

The Wolves had won six league games in a row prior to facing Ole Werner's side, who were indebted to the goalscoring brilliance of Niclas Fullkrug once again. The Germany forward bagged his third brace of the campaign to extend his tally to 13 goals in 17 league matches this season.

Jiri Pavlenka would have been furious to see what would have been only his third clean sheet of the season slip away when Kevin Paredes scored a last-minute consolation goal, but ultimately three points was the most important thing for his team-mates and his manager after a difficult spell of form.

With all teams between 13th and 17th in the table losing last weekend - including their forthcoming opponents - the victory moved Die Werderaner eight points clear of danger, which is more than they could realistically hoped for at this stage in their first season back in Germany's top flight.

Another victory on Sunday against a potential relegation candidate would surely dispel any lingering fears that the club may harbour regarding an instant return to the second tier, and it would be foolish to rule them out of doing so given their free-scoring nature.

Stuttgart Bundesliga form:

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Stuttgart form (all competitions):

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Werder Bremen Bundesliga form:

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Team News

Stuttgart will remain without Borna Sosa, Tiago Tomas, Dan-Axel Zagadou and Laurin Ulrich, while Silas is unlikely to feature despite nearing a return to full fitness after his recent calf injury.

Genki Haraguchi could make his first start for the club after joining from Union Berlin earlier this week. The Japan midfielder made his debut from the bench against Paderborn in midweek.

Bremen, meanwhile, will travel without Felix Agu and Romano Schmid due to serious knee injuries, while Mitchell Weiser is suspended after receiving his fifth booking of the season against Wolfsburg last weekend.

Without a natural replacement for Weiser given Agu's patella issue, Jens Stage could shift across to right wing-back, with Leonardo Bittencourt returning to midfield after missing his side's recent win due to a cold.

Stuttgart possible starting lineup:

Muller; Anton, Mavropanos, Ito, Vagnoman; Haraguchi, Karazor, Endo; Dias, Guirassy, Fuhrich

Werder Bremen possible starting lineup:

Pavlenka; Pieper, Stark, Friedl; Stage, Bittencourt, Gross, Schmidt, Jung; Füullkrug, Ducksch

We say: Stuttgart 1-1 Werder Bremen

Both sides have struggled to keep clean sheets this season but are comfortably averaging more than a goal per game at the other end, so we expect both teams to score on Sunday.

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