Pre-match facts: VfB vs. RB Leipzig

Record against Leipzig

Overall (all Bundesliga): 11 games. 0 wins, 2 draws, 9 defeats. 4:23 goal difference.

Coach quotes

RB Leipzig coach Marco Rose: “Stuttgart have a clear concept. They play with a lot of conviction and have outstanding players in the squad. They’re good in transition and are where they currently are on merit. I expect an evenly matched contest against very strong opponents – we need a top performance.”

VfB coach Sebastian Hoeneß: “RB Leipzig are an absolutely top-class side, as we learned in the reverse fixture. Nevertheless, we believe we’re capable of causing them problems at home. We’re really up for it. We two need halves at the same level. If we manage that we can get something, but we know it’s going to be tough.”

Penalties

Stuttgart have already been awarded six penalties this season, while Leipzig have had five. That puts the two teams first and second in that statistic in the Bundesliga. Both sides have converted three of them: Serhou Guirassy has scored all three for VfB, while Lois Openda (two) and Timo Werner have been on target from the spot for RB.

Suspensions

Atakan Karazor picked up his fifth yellow card of the campaign against VfL Bochum and is therefore suspended for this game.

Leipzig’s Xavi Simons also received his fifth caution against Bayer 04 Leverkusen last time out and must sit out the trip to Stuttgart.

Team news

Lilian Egloff and Nikolas Nartey are both unavailable for the game against Leipzig. Wooyeong Jeong, Hiroki Ito (both Asian Cup), Silas and Serhou Guirassy (both AFCON) remain away on international duty.

For the visitors, Amadou Haidara is at the Africa Cup of Nations. Yussuf Poulsen and Lukas Klostermann have trained individually this week to manage their workload, while captain Willi Orban has completed parts of team training as he returns from a knee injury.

Crowd

The home section of the MHPArena is sold out.