17 September 2021, 15:18 | 28 August 2021, 15:29
The German Bundesliga fixture, VfB Stuttgart vs. Bayer 04 Leverkusen, kicks off at 14:30 (GMT+1) on Matchday 5, Sunday, September 19 at the Mercedes-Benz Arena.
Preview VfB Stuttgart Bundesliga, Sep 19, 2021
Preview VfB Stuttgart picked up a 1-1 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt at the Deutsche Bank Park on Matchday 4. Centre-forward, Omar Marmoush, on loan from VfL Wolfsburg, was keen to make his mark with minutes into the game after forcing a save out of Frankfurt's goalkeeper Kevin Trapp in the 17th minute. Frankfurt squandered a chance to take the lead at the other end minutes after Marmoush's attempt. Both sides left without a goal at the break, but it was the home team who scored first. Frankfurt's Filip Kostic (79') separated both sides late in the second-half before things went from bad to worse for Stuttgart. The visitors were reduced to 10-men after Waldemar Anton (R. 82') was shown the red for bringing down Rafael Borre at the edge of the box. Six minutes after the incident, the 22-year-old Omar Marmoush (88'), who was making his debut for the club, salvaged a point for Stuttgart after leaving the goalkeeper and a player behind for the tap in. Stuttgart remain in 10th place with 4 points after 1W, 1D & 2D (WLLD) and a win over Bayer Leverkusen could see Pellegrino Matarazzo's side move inside the top ten. Ninth-placed Hoffenheim take on Arminia Bielefeld, while eight-placed Union Berlin have a difficult fixture against Dortmund. Matarazzo is expected to line up the 3—4—2—1 formation with Marmoush in attack once again. Naouirou Ahamada is ruled out with an ankle injury while Waldemar Anton is suspended. Meanwhile, Mohamed Sankoh is nursing a knee injury and will be unavailable for this fixture.
Preview Bayer 04 Leverkusen Bundesliga, Sep 19, 2021
Preview Meanwhile, Bayer Leverkusen will return to Bundesliga action after Thursday's 2-1 win over the Hungarian side, Ferencvárosi TC. On Matchday 4, Leverkusen lost to Dortmund, 4-3, in a seven-goal thriller at the BayArena. Goals from Florian Wirtz (9'), Patrik Schick (45'+1) and Moussa Diaby (55') were not enough to seal a point as Die Werkself had their unbeaten run put to an end: DWWL. The club occupies 6th place on the Bundesliga table, having picked up 7 points from 2W, 1D, & 1L. Having scored 12 goals after four Bundesliga games, Leverkusen have an average of 3 goals scored per game with Schick having scored in three successive Bundesliga matches for the third time. Gerardo Seoane could appear with the 4—2—3—1 formation, having the Euro 2020 joint top-scorer at the top of the shape. On availability, a plague of knee injuries keeps Julian Baumgartlinger and Fosu-Mensah out of this trip to the Mercedes-Benz Arena, while Tapsoba remains sidelined with an ankle injury.