VfB Stuttgart v Hamburg

VfB Stuttgart vs Hamburg Preview

The 1st leg of this two-legged play-off to determine relegation or promotion in the German Bundesliga will feature this upcoming clash between the Bundesliga incumbents, Stuttgart, and their Bundesliga 2 opponents, Hamburg, when the two teams meet at the Mercedes-Benz-Arena on Thursday night.

Despite finding themselves in the relegation play-off spot, Stuttgart have actually produced an encouraging sequence of results lately as the hosts have lost just twice in their last 10 matches overall, once being in the DFB Pokal domestic cup and a Bundesliga loss away from home at Hertha Berlin.

However, four wins within this period should give Stuttgart plenty of confidence in gaining a positive result in this 1st leg on home soil as they've collected recent wins in the Bundesliga against Bochum, Borussia M'gladbach and Mainz, the latter being a 4-1 romp away from home.

Overall results at home have also improved as Stuttgart have lost just one of their last six tussles at their Mercedes-Benz-Arena.

Hamburg narrowly missed out on automatic promotion up into the Bundesliga by the slender margin of just one point behind the top two finishing clubs, Heidenheim and Darmstadt, thus consigning Hamburg to the dreaded play-offs between themselves and the third from bottom placed club in the Bundesliga, Stuttgart.

Hamburg only have themselves to blame though as the visitors produced a somewhat inconsistent set of results during the run-in towards the end of the Bundesliga 2 campaign as they managed to capture just two wins in a period of nine games from mid-March through to early May.

The visitors have managed to rally though in subsequent games as they've registered three wins on the trot by picking up victories over Jahn Regensburg, Greuther Furth and Sandhausen respectively, but the visitors may still be reflecting upon what could have been in the fixtures beforehand.

Results away from home have also looked a little shaky of late despite winning their last two away games on the trot as these have been Hamburg's only successes in their last eight outings on the road, and they'll be up against an improving Stuttgart side here on Thursday night.

Stuttgart v Hamburg Verdict

Both Stuttgart and Hamburg are expected to be a little nervous and jittery heading into this 1st leg clash and although it may be difficult to ascertain a straight winner here, the prospect of goals look promising as each of the last nine meetings between these two sides have produced goals for both teams.

Therefore, an entertaining opening leg looks to be on the cards at the Mercedes-Benz-Arena with both teams fancying their chances of gaining a 1st leg lead in this crucial tie.

Therefore, our main bet will be Both Teams To Score YES @ 1.57

Other side bets worth considering:

Draw @ 4.00

Correct score: 1-1 @ 8.00