Stuttgart vs Hoffenheim Prediction & Betting Tips (20 December)

Winner of the German Cup last season, Stuttgart have negotiated their European adventure rather well so far. This team is in 9th place in the Europa League rankings with a small point behind the top 8 before the last 2 days which will be played next month. In the Bundesliga, the VfB also performed rather well during this first part of the season and is in 6th place in the ranking with only a small margin on the 4th qualifying place for the Champions League. After being beaten by Hamburg 2-1 and more severely by Bayern Munich 0-5, the Swabians bounced back perfectly by crushing Maccabi Tel Aviv in C3 1-4 then Werder Bremen 0-4 in the championship. Opposite, Hoffenheim only has the championship to contest this season, especially after having taken the door in the 2nd round of the German Cup at the end of October.

And this is working quite well for TSG, which is establishing itself as a very credible contender for European places and even, why not, for qualification in the Champions League. The visitors occupy 5th place in the ranking with the same number of points as Bayer Leverkusen who are 4th. Easy to defeat Augsburg 3-0, Hoffe's players then had to lose to Dortmund 2-0 before resuming their march forward against Hamburg 4-1 last weekend.

Once again, Bosnian striker Demirovic (5 goals TCC) will still not be able to hold its place on the Stuttgart side. The least important Keitel, defenders Zagadou and Jaquez (5 matches) as well as striker Silas must also be patient in the infirmary while former Rennes full-back Assignon makes his return after being suspended last weekend. Among the players to follow, we can cite the important winger El Khannouss (3 championship goals, 3 in C3) and the German international Undav who scored his 8th goal of the season last weekend. On the TSG side, summer recruit Machida could be the only element of this team to have to give up this trip to Stuttgart. Indeed, the left side Bernardo will be back after being suspended during the Hamburg reception last Saturday.

The coach, Christian Ilzer, has no shortage of strengths in his game. Indeed, we should find in this team the influential Asllani (6 goals, 1 assist), Lemperle (5 goals), Touré (2 goals, 4 assists), Kramaric (2 goals, 3 assists in Bundesliga), Prömel (5 goals, 2 assists) and finally Burger (3 goals, 3 assists) who all had a very good first part of the season. The probable line-ups for Stuttgart - Hoffenheim: Stuttgart: Nübel - Vagnoman (or Assignon), Al Dakhil, Hendriks, Mittelstädt - Andres, Stiller - Nartey, El Khanouss, Leweling - Undav.Hoffenheim : Baumann - Coufal, Hranac, Kabak, Hajdari - Prömel, Avdullahu, Burger - Asllani - Lemperle, Touré.