Both VfB Stuttgart and VfL Wolfsburg head into their game on Wednesday 21 April (kick-off 20:30 CEST) having lost their last two league encounters. The Green-and-Whites have suffered back-to-back defeats for the first time this season – they have not lost three Bundesliga games in a row since last term (between December 2019 and January 2020), while the last time VfB were beaten in three successive top-flight matches was during the 2018/19 campaign (between December 2018 and January 2019).
However, the Wolves have won all three of their games against promoted clubs this season, doing the double over Arminia Bielefeld (2-1, 3-0) and beating VfB 1-0 in the reverse fixture. Josip Brekalo scored the only goal of the game at the Volkswagen Arena back in December.
More facts and figures
Lead trimmed: Defeats to Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayern Munich have seen VfL’s cushion over fifth place cut from 11 points to five – although they still have an excellent opportunity to reach the Champions League for the third time after 2009/10 and 2015/16. Eleven points from their last five games would secure VfL’s place in Europe’s premier club competition.
Uncharacteristic vulnerability: The Wolves have not been as solid in defence of late, conceding seven goals in their last two league matches – as many as in their previous 13 Bundesliga fixtures.
Philipp enjoys facing VfB: Maximilian Philipp scored his third Wolfsburg goal against Bayern last time out, with two of those goals coming against the Bundesliga leaders. He has also scored once in each of his last three league appearances against Stuttgart (all for Borussia Dortmund).
Strong in the air:VfL’s Wout Weghorst (19 goals) and VfB’s Sasa Kalajdzic (14 goals), the top scorers for their sides and fourth and fifth respectively in the Bundesliga, have a combined height of 3.97 metres. Standing at exactly two metres, the Stuttgart striker is currently the tallest player in the Bundesliga and has also scored the most headers (seven) in the division this season. Ten of Weghorst’s 52 Bundesliga goals have come with his head, including four this term.
Steeped in tradition: The Green-and-Whites have been ever-present in the Bundesliga since their promotion in 1997, making this their 24th successive campaign. The Wolves play their 812th top-flight game in Stuttgart, drawing level with Karlsruher SC and putting them in 18th place in the list of all-time Bundesliga appearances.
