Two of the Bundesliga's over-achieving sides so far this season face off on Sunday, with Wolfsburg able to end the calendar year in a top-four position with a win.

Stuttgart, meanwhile, would overtake their opponents in the table by beating them.

Match preview

Wolfsburg's unbeaten domestic record this season was ended by a 2-1 loss at Bayern Munich on Wednesday, but Oliver Glasner will be looking to ensure his players remain upbeat after their recent excellent form as well as the unfortunate nature of that defeat at the hands of the Bavarians.

After Maximilian Philipp had put the Wolves ahead in the early exchanges, Robert Lewandowski struck either side of half time to earn a crucial victory for the reigning Bundesliga and European champions.

However, the recent Best FIFA Player of the Year award winner's brace represented Bayern's only two shots on target across the entire 90 minutes, with Wolfsburg testing Manuel Neuer on six occasions (including Philipp's early goal).

Glasner will be confident that, if his players perform as well as they did in Munich against Stuttgart on Sunday, they will have every chance of ending the calendar year in a Champions League qualification position.

Stuttgart, meanwhile, failed to overtake their opponents Union Berlin in the table on Tuesday after an entertaining 2-2 draw with Urs Fischer's side.

Pellegrino Matarazzo will have been relieved to have avoided defeat in the end having trailed 2-0 heading into the final stages of the game. Marvin Freidrich and Taiwo Awoniyi, on loan from Liverpool, scored for the visitors, with Sasa Kalajdzic's late brace rescuing a point for Stuttgart.

Bizarrely, Matarazzo's side have failed to win at home in their six games at Mercendes-Benz Arena this season, performing much better on the road with four wins and two draws having remained unbeaten away from home so far this campaign.

The 43-year-old will feel confident his side can overtake their opponents in the table with a victory on Sunday, then, and potentially end the calendar year in fifth place in Germany's top flight, which would be an exceptional achievement, having only secured promotion in June.

Wolfsburg Bundesliga form: WWWDWL

Stuttgart Bundesliga form: DDLWWD

Team News

Wolfsburg remain without Admir Mehmedi through injury, but Joshua Guilavogui did make his long-awaited comeback from the substitutes' bench in the defeat to Bayern.

John Brooks should return to the heart of the defence having missed the trip to Munich.

Stuttgart have several players injured, with Erik Thommy, Clinton Mola, Atakan Karazor, Momo Cisse, Maxime Awoudja and Hamadi Al Ghaddioui all unable to make the trip to Wolfsburg.

Kalajdzic will be hoping for a start after earning a point for his side against Union Berlin in midweek, with Tanguy Coulibaly also primed for a return to the XI.

Wolfsburg possible starting lineup:
Casteels; Mbabu, Lacroix, Brooks, Roussillon; Schlager, Arnold; Baku, Philipp, Brekalo; Weghorst

Stuttgart possible starting lineup:
Kobel; Mavropanos, Anton, Kempf; Wamangituka, Sosa, Endo, Castro, Coulibaly; Kalajdzic, Gonzalez

We say: Wolfsburg 2-2 Stuttgart

We can envisage an entertaining draw, with both sides keeping their respective home and away unbeaten records so far this season intact.

Both sides are packed with attacking quality without wholly sacrificing defensive solidity, so it should make for an intriguing encounter.

Top betting tip