VFB Stuttgart vs Bayer Leverkusen preview, team news, tickets, and prediction

The exciting Bundesliga continues with a blockbuster Matchday 26 fixture between VFB Stuttgart and Bayer Leverkusen. The match is billed to take place at the MHPArena in Stuttgart, Germany on the 15th of March, 2025.

VFB Stuttgart under German coach Sebastian Hoeness have had a mixed start to the season. As of the time of writing, they are currently 10th in the German Bundesliga with 23 points from their first 15 matches. They have won six matches, drawn five matches and lost four times in the league this season. 

They finished strongly last season achieving a second place finish and an automatic qualification for the group stages of the UEFA Champions League. This ensured they finished ahead of Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich who finished the season in third place. Their most high profile departure in the summer was Striker Serhou Guirassy who scored 30 goals in all competitions last season. The striker left for rivals Borussia Dortmund in a deal worth about €18 million. Brighton forward Denis Undav who spent the previous season on loan at the club was brought in to replace the forward. Other departures included centre back Hiroki Ito who left to join Bayern Munich and Anton Waldemar who also joined Borussia Dortmund. 

There were high hopes going into the season after a brilliant performance last season. They started the season with a penalty shootout loss to Bundesliga Champions Bayer Leverkusen in the German Super Cup. They lost their opening fixture of the season to Freiburg before picking up a first victory on the road when they defeated Borussia Monchengladbach 3-1. They then picked up a 2-0 win over Bochum as goals from Chris Fuhrich and Justin Diehl secured maximum points for Sebastian Hoeness’ side. In their next four league games, the side won twice, drew once and lost surprisingly to St. Pauli at home before the Christmas break. 

In the UEFA Champions League, they currently sit 27th with four points from their opening five games. They began the Champions League season with a 3-1 loss at last season’s champions Real Madrid. They got their first victory of the season on Matchday three with a memorable 1-0 win over Juventus at the Allianz stadium in Turin courtesy of a late goal by El Bilal Toure. Then they lost 5-1 at Red Star Belgrade despite scoring first through forward Ermedin Demirovic before winning by the same scoreline against Young Boys in their most recent outing. In the DFB Pokal, Stuttgart are in the quarterfinals stage of the competition. 

On the other hand, Bayer Leverkusen have continued to grow under the guidance of Xabi Alonso in the dugout. The Former Real Madrid player has etched his name and that of his players in history by winning the Bundesliga and DFB Pokal unbeaten last season. Just before the start of the 2024-25 season, The Werkself defeated Stuttgart in the Super Cup final to take home the first silverware of the new campaign.

Leverkusen defeated Borussia Monchengladbach 3-2 in the Bundesliga in their first game. Granit Xhaka and Florian Wirtz put the defending champions ahead after the first 45 minutes of the game before the hosts pulled one back through Nico Elvedi just before the hour mark. Tim Kleindienst then completed the comeback for Borussia by scoring in the 85th minute. However, Wirtz was on hand to turn in a rebound from his saved penalty deep into stoppage time. In the DFB Pokal, Leverkusen defeated Jena 1-0 to progress past the first round, 3-0 versus Elversberg in the second round, and a hard-fought 1-0 win over Bayern Munich in the latest round.

Back in the Bundesliga, they lost 3-2 to RB Leipzig for the first time in two seasons. Despite that defeat, Leverkusen are currently second on the log with 32 points from their first 15 games of the season and four points behind league leaders Bayern Munich.

Leverkusen have some standout performers in their team. Goalkeeper Hradecky Lukas has only missed one league game at the time of writing, Grimaldo Alejandro and Tapsoba Edmond are some of the players who have played every league game under Alonso so far. Wirtz Florian has 11 goal contributions (6G 5A), Xhaka (2G 5A), and  Victor Boniface (6G 1A).

In the past Bundesliga meetings between the sides played at Stuttgart, the home side have only won once since 2010 and that gives Leverkusen the upper hand before this game is played.  

Match tickets

The epic match at MHP Arena in Stuttgart will kick off at 14:30 GMT on Saturday, 15th March, 2025.

The 60,058-capacity stadium will host this league game between Die Roten and Leverkusen.

Getting Stuttgart v Bayer Leverkusen tickets could take a lot of work given the standard of this game. Hence, you are advised to search ticket reselling sites should they be expectedly sold out on each club’s channels. 

Team news

Line-ups

Stuttgart should have defender Dan-Axel Zagadou back from injury. They should also be able to call upon German international centre forward Denis Undav who has been unavailable for a while due to a torn muscle fibre. Attacking midfielders Lica Raimund and Jamie Leweling are also unavailable due to injuries.

Sebastian Hoeness will hope his team get their balance on a day where they need to secure maximum points to boost their chances of clinching an European spot at the end of the season.

Stuttgart XI: Alexander Nubel; Josha Vagnoman, Anthony Rouault, Julian Chabot, Maximiliam Mitttelstadt; Angelo Stiller, Atakan Karazor; Fabian Rieder, Enzo Millot, Chris Fuhrich; Ermedin Demirovic.

At the time of writing, Leverkusen have both of their strikers – Patrick Schick and Victor Boniface – sidelined, as well as other forwards Amine Adli and Jonas Hofmann. Wirtz has continued to excel in the false nine role and he might be asked to step in again if the strikers remain available by the time this fixture is to be played. 

Bayer Leverkusen possible XI: Hradecky; Tapsoba, Tah, Hincapie; Frimpong, Xhaka, Palacios, Andrich, Grimaldo; Tella, Wirtz.

Prediction

The matchup is expected to produce goals but the first leg ended goalless which was a surprise at the time. Stuttgart have not been consistent this term, but they can be a difficult team to beat when they decide to play. By the way, getting Stuttgart tickets early should be your priority.

As for Leverkusen, they are within touching distance of league leaders Bayern Munich at the time of writing, and that makes this game an important one for them.  

Stuttgart 1-2 Bayer Leverkusen

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