Bayern Munich will be aiming to end the weekend at the top of the Bundesliga table after visiting Stuttgart on Saturday evening.

The hosts, meanwhile, head into the weekend’s action outside of the relegation zone on goal difference only.

Indeed, Stuttgart suffered their fourth defeat in their last five league games with a crushing 2-1 loss away to Schalke 04, who moved within three points of their opponents from the foot of the table in the process.

First-half strikes from Dominick Drexler and Marius Bulter gave the hosts a commanding 2-0 lead at half time, with Bruno Labbadia’s side unable to complete a comeback despite Borna Sosa pulling one goal back three minutes after the hour mark at Veltins Arena.

Relegation battling Stuttgart’s bleak 2023 league record took another hit (W1, D2, L4) last time out as they fell to a 21st straight winless away game in the Bundesliga at rock-bottom Schalke, fatally falling behind within ten minutes.

The five-time German champions have a 3-0 win against Cologne in their last home game to thank for entering this round outside of the drop zone, so they’ll hope a return to the Mercedes-Benz Arena can ignite a change of fortunes.

Encouragingly, Stuttgart ended an unwanted all-time Bundesliga record of 31 straight home games without a clean sheet in that Cologne victory, but that poor defensive record still hasn’t stopped them from picking up 15 of their 19 points at home this term.

They might struggle to build on that solid record against such strong opposition however, especially with their creative lynchpin Borna Sosa (G2, A6) suspended for the game, as they haven’t won when Sosa hasn’t featured this season (D4, L5).

The top of the table is as tight as it ever has been this season with just five points separating the top-five sides ahead of the round. Bayern Munich headed the standings after the last round of games but could have been knocked off top spot come kick off, so they’ll be keen to take advantage of a weakened Stuttgart and in turn extend their run of unbeaten Bundesliga games on Saturday’s primetime TV spot to 25 games (W19, D5).

Bayern’s form has been indifferent by their lofty standards this season, highlighted by already drawing their joint-most league games (seven) since 2010/11, with 12 games still to go.

The last two fixtures between the sides both ended 2-2 (at Bayern), but perhaps soothing any doubts around such an outcome again is Bayern’s incredible 12-game winning streak in competitive away H2Hs in Stuttgart, and one more win will equal their longest such run against any opponent!

Players to watch: Gil Dias has popped up when it counts in his short time at Stuttgart, scoring in both of their competitive victories in 2023 within ten minutes of his introduction to each game. In contrast, Bayern’s Thomas Müller is already a household name throughout Germany and could become only the second player after Robert Lewandowski to make 300 Bundesliga goal contributions with one more (G141, A158).

Hot stat: Stuttgart have conceded a league-high ten goals in the opening 15′ this season whilst Bayern have scored a Bundesliga-high 11 goals in the same period.

Stuttgart Bundesliga form:

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Stuttgart form (all competitions):

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Bayern Munich Bundesliga form:

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Bayern Munich form (all competitions):

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Stuttgart possible starting lineup:

Bredlow; Anton, Mavropanos, Zagadou, Ito; Endo, Karazor, Haraguchi; Gil, Silas, Fuhrich

Bayern Munich possible starting lineup:

Sommer; Pavard, Upamecano, De Ligt, Davies; Kimmich, Goretzka; Sane, Musiala, Coman; Choupo-Moting

Indeed, Stuttgart suffered their fourth defeat in their last five league games with a crushing 2-1 loss away to Schalke 04, who moved within three points of their opponents from the foot of the table in the process.

First-half strikes from Dominick Drexler and Marius Bulter gave the hosts a commanding 2-0 lead at half time, with Bruno Labbadia’s side unable to complete a comeback despite Borna Sosa pulling one goal back three minutes after the hour mark at Veltins Arena.