A crucial clash at the bottom of the Bundesliga table will take place on Saturday, as Stuttgart play host to Augsburg.
The hosts currently sit in the relegation playoff place, while their visitors are three points better off in 14th spot after a victory last time out.
Match preview
With just 19 points from 24 league outings, Stuttgart sat in a precarious position in the Bundesliga, occupying a place in the automatic drop zone having earned just four victories.
The hierarchy have stuck by manager Pellegrino Matarazzo thus far, and Die Roten have started to give their survival hopes a boost recently, firstly breaking a nine-game winless run as they defeated fellow strugglers Borussia Monchengladbach 3-2 at home.
Their visitors took a two-goal lead in the first half, but Wataru Endo quickly pulled one back before Chris Fuhrich equalised and Sasa Kalajdzic netted an 83rd-minute winner.
Matarazzo's men added to that with a commendable point away at Union Berlin last time out, as Kalajdzic again popped up late, scoring in the 90th minute to force a 1-1 draw.
On the back of those two positive results, Die Roten have climbed out of the automatic drop zone and into the relegation playoff place, and, now sitting just two points adrift of automatic survival and three points behind Saturday's opponents, they will look to give their hopes another major boost with a win at the weekend.
Similarly to their hosts, Augsburg have also helped their chances of survival in recent weeks, firstly following up consecutive defeats with a commendable 1-1 draw at home to Borussia Dortmund, as Noah Sarenren Bazee earned them a point with a 78th-minute equaliser.
The Fuggerstadter then scored a crucial win in the battle for survival in their last outing, defeating Arminia Bielefeld 1-0 away from home thanks to Daniel Caligiuri's second-half goal.
That saw them leapfrog their opponents and move further away from the bottom three, but, after not playing last weekend, they have since been dragged back closer as a result of Stuttgart's improvement.
Upon their return to action, Markus Weinzierl's side will look for another important win to stretch the gap between themselves and their opponents to six points and again move further clear of the bottom three.
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Team News
Stuttgart will remain without Silas Katompa Mvumpa, Mohamed Sankoh and Nikolas Nartey, as the trio are all battling through long-term injuries.
They have struggled for goals throughout the season, but the recent return of Sasa Kalajdzic from injury has brought about an improvement, with the Austrian international having netted three goals and provided two assists in his last four appearances.
He will lead the line, likely with the support of Omar Marmoush and Sporting Lisbon loanee Tiago Tomas from the wide areas.
After an important victory last time out, Augsburg should only make minimal changes to their starting XI, with Michael Gregoritsch again set to spearhead the attack.
Robert Gumny, Tobias Strobl and Alfred Finnbogason remain confined to the treatment room, while Felix Uduokhai was forced off in the first half last time out.
He was replaced by Frederik Winther, and, following their clean sheet, the substitute should feature from the outset at the weekend in a back three alongside Reece Oxford and Jeffrey Gouweleeuw.
Stuttgart possible starting lineup:
Muller; Mavropanos, Anton, Ito, Sosa; Endo, Karazor, Fuhrich; Tomas, Kalajdzic, Marmoush
Augsburg possible starting lineup:
Gikiewicz; Gouweleeuw, Oxford, Winther; Caligiuri, Maier, Gruezo, Iago; Vargas, Zeqiri; Gregoritsch
We say: Stuttgart 1-1 Augsburg
Given their close standings in the battle for survival, we predict a close and cagey affair and cannot quite pick a winner.
The two sides have improved their standings in the battle at the bottom of the table recently, and, with them both having renewed confidence and the chance of building momentum, we do not expect either to roll over.
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