Stuttgart have lost one of their last 18 Bundesliga home games
Union Berlin have won just one of their last 11 away league games
The visitors have scored in just one of their last five Bundesliga road outings
Good chance for Stuttgart to pick up
It was always going to be difficult for Stuttgart to live up to last season after they finished second in the Bundesliga behind runaway winners Bayer Leverkusen, but they should still have enough to see off Union Berlin.
It has been a season of few highlights for Sebastian Hoeness’s side – a 1-0 Champions League victory at Juventus stands out – and the only league wins they have gained in their last eight matches have come against bottom two Holstein Kiel and Bochum, who have claimed just seven points and one win between them.
However, it is easy to forget how strong they have been on their own patch this year and Friday’s opponents Union Berlin head west having struggled on the road.
Union are in the doldrums
Union have won a solitary game on their travels and their confidence will have been further affected by a DFL Pokal Cup defeat to third-tier Arminia Bielefeld last month.
Bo Svensson’s side had failed to score in four matches before last week’s 2-1 defeat at home to the champions and it is difficult to see them making their mark in this one, so correct-score backers can be pointed towards a 2-0 success for the home side, which was the same result they posted against basement boys Bochum the last time they were on home turf.
