Stuttgart host Borussia Monchengladbach in the Bundesliga on Saturday with the visitors looking to continue moving up the table after their impressive 3-2 win over league leaders Bayern Munich last weekend.
Stuttgart, meanwhile, are still looking for their first home win of the season despite an excellent return to Germany's top flight.
Match preview
It has been one of the quirks of the German season so far that newly-promoted Stuttgart have failed to win any of their seven home league games, with their impressive 4-1 win at Augsburg last weekend reaffirming that their surprising strengths have largely lied on the road.
Indeed, Pellegrino Matarazzo's side have picked up 17 of their 21 points on their travels, with the recent demolition of Heiko Herrlich's ordinarily defensively solid outfit showing their counter-attacking prowess.
Nicolas Gonzalez's penalty and Silas Wamangituka's close-range strike gave Stuttgart a decisive 2-0 lead heading into the half-time interval. Ruben Vargas's cross laid the ball on a plate for Marco Richter to convert, but Die Schwaben showed mental resilience to ride out the shock of conceding in the first minute after the break by responding with captain Gonzalo Castro's fine effort.
Richter later turned from hero to zero, with the forward's cynical trip on Waldemar Anton earning him a second yellow card, and Daniel Didavi duly punished Augsburg's lack of discipline by sealing the rout. Matarazzo may need to work on the psychology of his players to aid them in their upcoming match, as there are very few issues with his side's tactics or ability.
Entering last weekend four points outside of the top four places, Gladbach's hopes of achieving another Champions League qualification position looked to be fading after going down 2-0 to Bayern in the early exchanges of their Friday night clash.
Robert Lewandowski's penalty and Leon Goretzka's trademark powerful strike from outside of the area gave the Bavarians a commanding lead, but Hansi Flick's side continued to play a dangerously high line against a Gladbach team who are always capable of quick transitions under Marco Rose.
Indeed, Jonas Hofmann displayed the excellent movement and finishing which earned the Germany winger his first international caps in recent times, twice firing past Manuel Neuer in one-versus-one situations to level the proceedings heading into the break.
After Neuhaus's clumsy trip had allowed Bayern to take the lead via the penalty spot in the first half, the midfielder more than made amends with a superbly-placed effort from the edge of the area which sailed into the top corner past a helpless Neuer. Surprisingly, Rose's side always looked comfortable thereafter, holding out for a fantastic victory which appears to have confirmed that his side are firmly back on track as they look for more consistency in order to continue their rise up the table.
Stuttgart Bundesliga form: WWDLLW
Stuttgart form (all competitions): WDLWLW
Borussia Monchengladbach Bundesliga form: DDDLWW
Borussia Monchengladbach form (all competitions): DDLWWW
Team News
Stuttgart continue to be without Clinton Mola, Maxime Awoudja, Lilian Egloff and Hamadi Al Ghaddioui due to injury.
Matarazzo has a wealth of attacking options at his disposal, with Didavi, Tanguy Coulibaly and Sasa Kalajdzic all offering serious goal threat from the bench.
Gladbach, meanwhile, remain without Marcus Thuram after the forward's red card for spitting towards an opponent prior to the winter break, with Valentino Lazaro and Rocco Reitz both ruled out due to injury.
Breel Embolo and Alassane Plea are both doubtful, too, due to hand and muscle injuries respectively, meaning that Lars Stindl is likely to occupy a false nine role.
Stuttgart possible starting lineup:
Kobel; Mavropanos, Anton, Kempf; Wamangituka, Endo, Mangala, Sosa; Klimowicz, Castro; Gonzalez
Borussia Monchengladbach possible starting lineup:
Sommer; Lainer, Ginter, Elvedi, Bensebaini; Zakaria, Kramer, Neuhaus; Hofmann, Stindl, Herrmann
We say: Stuttgart 1-2 Borussia Monchengladbach
Despite Gladbach potentially being without their three main forwards, the combination of Stindl and Hofmann should provide enough attacking quality to overcome Stuttgart.
The hosts have proved to be a real Jekyll and Hyde team in terms of the contrast in their results at home and on the road, with Matarazzo's side likely to have to wait a little longer for their first home win of the season.
