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VfB Stuttgart begin the new season in the Bundesliga with a home game against Furth at the Mercedes-Benz Arena on Saturday.
The Reds gained qualification into the first division in 2020 and managed to stay afloat last season with a ninth-place finish. They will be gunning for a similar result this year too.
They officially started their 2021-22 campaign with a 6-0 thumping of BFC Dynamo in the DFB-Pokal Cup on Saturday, so the momentum is firmly on their side too.
Furth, meanwhile, have been promoted to the Bundesliga for just the second time and the first time since the 2012-13 season and will be looking to make a mark too.
VfB Stuttgart vs Furth Head-To-Head
There have been 16 clashes across all competitions between the sides before and the spoils are equally shared with both sides winning seven games each. Two matches have been drawn historically between the two sides.
Their last meeting came in February 2020 in the second tier of the Bundesliga, with Furth registering a victory at home.
VfB Stuttgart Form Guide (all competitions): W-L-W-D-W
Furth Form Guide (all competitions): L-L-D-L-L
VfB Stuttgart vs Furth Team News
VfB Stuttgart
Stuttgart have a lengthy list of absentees. Lilian Egloff (metatarsal ), Silas Katompa Mvumpa (ACL), Chris Fuhrich (Collarbone), Momo Cisse (metatarsal), Orel Mangala (torn muscle), Naouirou Ahamada (calf), Tanguy Coulibaly (COVID-19), Sasa Kalajdzic (COVID-19) and Maxime Awoudja (muscle) have all been ruled out of this game.
Injured: Lilian Egloff, Silas Katompa Mvumpa, Chris Fuhrich, Momo Cisse, Orel Mangala, Naouirou Ahamada
Suspended: None
Unavailable (COVID-19): Sasa Kalajdzic, Tanguy Coulibaly
Furth
Head coach Stefan Leitl has confirmed that four players - Simon Asta (thigh), Max Christiansen (illness), Robin Kehr (adductor) and Elias Kratzer (adductor) - are definitely going to miss the game on Saturday.
He also said that Havard Nielsen, Marco Meyerhofer and Luca Itter are back in training and there's a chance each of them could feature in the season opener.
Injured: Simon Asta, Max Christiansen, Robin Kehr, Elias Kratzer
Suspended: None
Unavailable: None
VfB Stuttgart vs Furth Predicted XI
VfB Stuttgart (3-5-2): Fabian Bredlow; Konstantinos Mavropanos, Marc Kempf, Hiroki Ito; Roberto Missimo, Philipp Klement, Richard Weil, Atakan Karazor, Borna Sosa; Hamadi Al Ghaddioui, Mohamed Sankoh.
Furth (3-4-1-2): Marius Funk; Gideon Jung, Maximilian Bauer, Abdourahmane Barry; Nils Seufert, Paul Seguin, Adrian Fein, Julian Green; Timothy Tillman; Branimir Hrgota, Jamie Leweling.
VfB Stuttgart vs Furth Prediction
Given their head-to-head record is even, this could go either way.
However, the Reds have more experience in the Bundesliga, and might use that to their advantage.
It's going to be tough but we're betting on the home side to win.
Prediction: VfB Stuttgart 2-1 Furth
