Stuttgart kick off their Bundesliga campaign with a home match against VfL Bochum at the MHPArena on Saturday afternoon.
The hosts finished 16th in the table last season, surviving after winning a relegation playoff against Hamburg, with the visitors coming in 14th place, having acquired two more points.
Match preview
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Stuttgart picked up just 33 points in 34 games last season, only narrowly avoiding relegation after going on a three-game unbeaten run at the end of the campaign, so they will undoubtedly be looking to kick on this season.
Ahead of the new campaign, the Reds have contested six friendlies, winning five of them, most recently defeating Premier League side Sheffield United 3-0 at Bramall Lane, with Serhou Guirassy bagging a hat-trick.
As such, Sebastian Hoeness is likely to be happy with his side's pre-season preparations, and they continued their good form into their first competitive match, in what proved to be a routine victory against Balingen in the DFB-Pokal.
Stuttgart recorded a 4-0 victory against their lower-league opponents, with Guirassy again getting on the scoresheet, while Enzo Millot, Silas and Wataru Endo also got in on the act.
After progressing in the cup, the Reds' attention now turns to their first league game against a team they have a very good record against, having gone undefeated in the last nine meetings between the two sides.
Indeed, the MHPArena has not been a happy hunting ground for Bochum, having never won at the stadium since it was built in 2009, and they were particularly poor away from home in general in the Bundesliga last season, collecting just nine points in 17 games on the road.
The 2022-23 campaign proved to be very difficult for the Blues, but their solid record at the Vonovia Ruhrstadion was enough to keep them afloat in the Bundesliga for the second season on the spin.
Thomas Letsch's side did not make life easy for themselves, but they won two and drew one of their last three games to stay up in dramatic fashion, and they will now be looking to move up the table, having established themselves in the top flight.
Although pre-season games ultimately count for nothing, Bochum may be a little disappointed to have lost five of them, and they will be extremely unhappy with the fact they have already been knocked out of the DFB-Pokal.
Last time out, the Blues were knocked out of the cup on penalties after drawing 2-2 during normal time against third-tier side Arminia Bielefeld, so Letsch will be well aware that a much-improved performance will be needed if his side are to stand a chance this weekend.
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Team News
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Stuttgart have a number of players missing through injury, with long-term absentee Thomas Kastanaras still out due to a broken ankle, while Josha Vagnoman also misses out because of an ankle issue, and Nikolas Nartey and Deniz Undav are unavailable because of knee injuries.
Goalkeeper Fabian Bredlow is also sidelined due to a hip issue, so Alexander Nubel is set to get the nod between the sticks, while former VfL Bochum left-back Maximilian Mittelstadt's absence means Hiroki Ito could get the nod.
Endo started and scored in the last match, but the central midfielder is now poised to move to Liverpool, so Roberto Massimo could come into the starting lineup.
Bochum also have several players out with a range of injury issues, including Moritz-Broni Kwarteng and Tim Oermann, who are suffering with groin issues, and Philipp Forster, who missed the last match due to a finger injury.
Goalkeeper Manuel Riemann is dealing with a muscle injury, so Michael Esser could come into the side, having featured sporadically in pre-season.
Stuttgart possible starting lineup:
Nubel; Stenzel, Anton, Zagadou, Ito; Karazor, Massimo, Silas, Millot, Fuhrich; Guirassy
VfL Bochum possible starting lineup:
Riemann; Masovic, Ordets, Bernardo; Passlack, Losilla, Stoger, Antwi-Adjei, Bero; Hofmann, Asano
We say: Stuttgart 2-0 VfL Bochum
Stuttgart have a very impressive home record against VfL Bochum, and they have won the last two matches between the two sides, so we expect them to kick off their campaign with a win this weekend.
Bochum have already been knocked out of the DFB Pokal against a side playing two divisions below them, so we do not think they stand much chance of getting a positive result this weekend.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
