Bundesliga: Borussia Dortmund Must Beware of Dangerous Stuttgart

Borussia Dortmund vs VfB Stuttgart

Borussia Dortmund are in the midst of their first rough patch of the Bundesliga season. They’ve won just one of their last four matches, which has seen them slide down to fourth in the table.

And now, BVB face a tricky test at home against newly promoted VfB Stuttgart, who just ended their own long winless drought last weekend.

Stuttgart have scored in each of their first 10 matches this season and will be eager to defy the Bundesliga 2020 betting odds against much-fancied Dortmund.

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Talking Points

Dortmund trying to cope with Haaland absence

Borussia Dortmund finally got back to winning ways as they beat Zenit St. Petersburg 2-1 to win their Champions League group. After going behind early, Dortmund came back in the second half thanks to goals from Lukasz Piszczek and Axel Witsel to claim the victory.

Prior to that match, Dortmund had gone three consecutive matches without a win. That includes a couple of disappointing Bundesliga 2020 results: a shock 2-1 home defeat to Koln and a 1-1 draw at Eintracht Frankfurt.

Dortmund have had to play the last three matches without star striker Erling Haaland, who will be out until the New Year due to a muscle injury.

Manager Lucien Favre has been using several different combinations in attack, mixing and matching the likes of Marco Reus, Jadon Sancho, Julian Brandt, Thorgan Hazard, and Gio Reyna to make up for Haaland’s absence.

Meanwhile, 16-year-old wunderkind Youssoufa Moukoko – who made more history by becoming the youngest player to feature in the Champions League – has also come on as a substitute in three of the last four games and should provide another dangerous weapon off the bench.

Dortmund started Reus and Hazard up front against Zenit, so Sancho and Reyna — who both came on as substitutes — could be set to return to the starting XI against Stuttgart.

Stuttgart still scoring on a consistent basis

Stuttgart finally picked up their first league win since October as they beat Werder Bremen 2-1 away from home last time out.

That win snapped Stuttgart’s run of five matches without a win. They had drawn four consecutive matches — including two winnable games against relegation strugglers Koln and Schalke — before losing 3-1 to Bayern Munich.

Can Silas Wamangituka score a goal against match favourites Borussia Dortmund in their upcoming Bundesliga match? — Silas Wamangituka scores their second goal against Werder Bremen

Silas Wamangituka scored a brace in the win at Bremen, although his second goal – which came in stoppage time – caused some controversy as he seemingly taunted the Werder defence before walking the ball into an open goal.

The speedy 21-year-old winger is having a terrific debut season in the Bundesliga. He leads the club with five goals and also has two assists in 10 matches.

Stuttgart have been without top striker Nicolas Gonzalez for the last two matches due to a knee injury. But he should be set to return for the Dortmund match, which will be a boost to a prolific Stuttgart attack that has already scored 19 goals this season (tied for fifth in the league).

They haven’t been quite as impressive on the other end; they’ve kept just one clean sheet to date and have conceded 16 goals overall. They will likely need to outduel Dortmund’s attack if they hope to come away from Signal Iduna Park with a positive result.

History

Despite Stuttgart’s status as one of German football’s more successful sides, Dortmund have dominated their head-to-head matchups in recent years.

BVB have won nine out of their last 11 league meetings and have lost just once in the last 16 (10 wins, five draws). Stuttgart’s last win at Dortmund came all the way back in 2007.

This matchup has also been a fairly high-scoring affair in recent years, with Dortmund doing most of the scoring. They’ve scored at least three goals against Stuttgart in eight of their last 10 matches, while there have been at least three goals in every match between the two clubs in 12 of their last 13 meetings.

Betting Tip

	Borussia Dortmund vs VfB Stuttgart	VfB Stuttgart Asian Handicap +1.25 @ 1.82
	December 12, 22:30 (GMT+8)

Despite their recent struggles, SBOTOP odds still have Borussia Dortmund priced as massive 1.52 favourites to beat Stuttgart at home. The visitors are 5.40 to pull off the upset, while a draw is 4.40.

There is a decent case to be made for Stuttgart making this match more competitive than expected. They have been quite tough to beat this season; only Bayern Munich have beaten them since their opening-day loss to Freiburg.

Dortmund will be a bit fatigued after having to come from behind away to Zenit. Meanwhile, Stuttgart should have the attacking firepower to stay within a goal of Dortmund, or even come away with a point.