Stuttgart face a daunting trip to the Allianz Arena to face Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich on Sunday with their survival hanging in the balance.
The hosts suffered defeat in their first game since confirming the title last time out, whilst the visitors extended their winless run to leave them in real danger of the drop.
Match preview
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After sealing a 10th successive Bundesliga crown in the perfect style, with victory in Der Klassiker against Borussia Dortmund a week earlier, Bayern's party was spoiled when they visited Mainz 05 last weekend.
The Bavarians were well off the pace and were completely outclassed by their out-of-form opponents, despite Robert Lewandowski finding the back of the net for the 34th time in the league this season.
Julian Nagelsmann's side struggled to cope with the intensity and the counter-attacks of their hosts, and Bayern came away perhaps fortunate that the scoreline remained as low as 3-1.
The former RB Leipzig boss will be looking for a response from his players in their final home game of the campaign on Sunday, despite the hosts having nothing left to play for on paper.
Although Bayern have already suffered more defeats than in each of their last six title wins - five - they will be out to ensure that tally is not extended at the Allianz Arena, and will instead be looking to edge towards another 100-goal season, with 93 their current tally heading into matchday 33.
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Meanwhile, Stuttgart will not be chasing records or monumental goal tallies when they take to the field on Sunday.
The visitors are fighting for their lives at the wrong end of the Bundesliga table and find themselves in the relegation playoff spot of 16th at the time of writing.
Just two points separate Die Roten from Arminia Bielefeld in the automatic drop zone prior to a ball being kicked on matchday 33, and with Die Arminen travelling to VfL Bochum on Friday evening, Stuttgart's situation could be a lot more desperate come kick off at the Allianz Arena.
After previously lifting themselves away from immediate danger thanks to an impressive return of seven points from a possible nine at the beginning of March, Sunday's visitors find themselves on a run of five games without a win as things stand.
Pellegrino Matarazzo's side have also found the back of the net on just two occasions across the winless streak, with goals drying up at the worst possible stage of the season to leave them in real danger of dropping out of the top flight.
A tough home fixture against top-four hopefuls FC Koln awaits on the final day next weekend too, so despite being just four points behind Hertha Berlin in outright safety in 15th, it looks to be a tough ask for Stuttgart to hope for anything other than a relegation playoff tie at best.
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Team News
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Nagelsmann looks to have a pair of first-team players returning for Bayern on Sunday, with Thomas Muller and Kingsley Coman set to feature after missing out at Mainz.
Benjamin Pavard is unlikely to be available due to a persistent knee problem in training this week, whilst Dayot Upamecano could miss out again due to personal reasons following his unexpected absence last weekend.
Bouna Sarr is once again ruled out due to a knee injury, but Nagelsmann has no other injury concerns to contend with.
After making way for Sven Ulreich between the posts at Mainz, Manuel Neuer should return to the starting 11 in Bayern's final home game of another title-winning campaign.
As for the visitors, several long-term absentees remain unavailable for the trip to the Allianz Arena, as many have done all season in an injury-disrupted campaign for the strugglers.
Nikolas Nartey, Mohamed Sankoh, Silas Katompa Mvumpa, Naouirou Ahamada, Clinton Mola and Pascal Stenzel are all ruled out for Matarazzo's Stuttgart.
Despite facing a monumental challenge to keep their hosts at bay, the American boss is likely to stick with an exciting front three of Tiago Tomas, Sasa Kalajdzic and Omar Marmoush on Sunday, as they look to hurt their opponents in a game in which a positive result could be required.
Bayern Munich possible starting lineup:
Neuer; Stanisic, Sule, Hernandez, Davies; Kimmich, Tolisso; Gnabry, Muller, Coman; Lewandowski
Stuttgart possible starting lineup:
Muller; Mavropanos, Anton, Ito; Fuhrich, Endo, Karazor, Sosa; Tomas, Kalajdzic, Marmoush
We say: Bayern Munich 4-1 Stuttgart
After seeing their title party spoiled in a below-par display last time out, it is expected that Bayern will bounce back in style in front of their own supporters for the final time this season on Sunday.
Stuttgart must come out and try and earn a result in their desperate bid to survive, which could lead to a thumping defeat if their hosts return to their best form in front of goal as expected.
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats, suggests the most likely outcome of this match is a Bayern Munich win with a probability of 87.1%. A draw has a probability of 9.1% and a win for Stuttgart has a probability of 3.78%.
The most likely scoreline is Bayern Munich 3-0 Stuttgart with a probability of 12.82% and the second most likely scoreline is Bayern Munich 2-0 Stuttgart with a probability of 12.24%.
Top tip
Matthew Tranter
