Bayern visit Stuttgart out to end hosts’ run

Bayern have only three Bundesliga games left this year as they target nine more points to see out 2025. Prior to encounters with Mainz and away at Heidenheim, Vincent Kompany’s team are away at VfB Stuttgart on Saturday (kick-off at 15:30 CET, live coverage on fcbayern.com and in the FC Bayern app with our text commentary and free web radio). Here’s all you need to know ahead of the Matchday 13 encounter in our preview.

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Bayern remain the benchmark in Germany this season, leading the Bundesliga with a record 34 points from 12 games after an unbeaten start. The advantage over RB Leipzig in second place is eight points, while the Bavarians are also through to the quarter-finals of the DFB Cup after Wednesday’s 3-2 win at Union Berlin. Alongside two own goals, Harry Kane netted his 25th competitive goal of the season from only 21 appearances. “They’re nice wins, but it’s not always just about nice football. The guys also did that against Union,” Kompany explained at Friday’s pre-match press conference.

Read up on the pre-match stats:

Stuttgart may be in good form themselves, but not necessarily in this fixture. Bayern have won 15 of the last 16 competitive meetings, although it will take another good performance to keep that sequence going on Saturday. “They’re not an easy opponent. We know we always need to solve things as a collective. Stuttgart away is always difficult,” Kompany admitted. “We may have always won there lately, but it was always really tough against them. If we perform at our top level, we can win. But we also know what to expect.”

Read more from Kompany at his press conference here:

Opponent: VfB Stuttgart

“We want to beat Bayern at home. We want to really put them under pressure, be brave against them. Ultimately it’s about us believing we can beat them. That belief is very pronounced with me,” declared a confident Stuttgart coach Sebastian Hoeneß.

Stuttgart are justified in feeling emboldened as they look to become the first team to beat Bayern domestically this season. VfB have won their opening five home games of a top-flight season for the first time since 1992/93 and lost only one of their last six competitive fixtures across the Bundesliga, DFB Cup and Europa League. Under former Bayern reserves coach Hoeneß, they are also through to the last eight of the Pokal, while they are still in with a chance of a top-eight finish in Europe, sitting on nine points from five games of the league phase. However, Bayern have already won in Stuttgart this season, lifting the Franz Beckenbauer Supercup with a 2-1 victory there in August.

The DFB Cup holders are now looking to turn the tables there, led by Deniz Undav, who has scored their last six Bundesliga goals and was directly involved in nine goals in November (scored seven, assisted two) – the most of any player across Europe’s top five leagues, ahead of Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappé (eight). Kompany also sounded a warning about the Germany international, saying, “I know about Undav from Belgium. He’s a striker who can always score. He’s incredibly clever and also a threat on the break.”

We spoke with former defender Holger Bastuber about Stuttgart:

Team news

Alphonso Davies and Jamal Musiala are both still out as they continue their recoveries from respective cruciate ligament and broken leg/ankle injuries. “Phonzy is very close but not yet for tomorrow. But it’ll come soon. Jamal is still a bit further away, but we’re confident. I hope he can train with us before Christmas,” Kompany said on Friday. There’s also a doubt over Aleksandar Pavlović after he had to go off in Berlin during the week. “It’s nothing bad, but we’ll have to see whether he can be involved tomorrow,” the Belgian explained.

Stuttgart are without Luca Jaquez (thigh), Dan-Axel Zagadou (thigh), Yannik Keitel (muscular) and Ermedin Demirovic (foot).

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What the coaches say