Borussia Dortmund vs. Stuttgart preview: The Niko Kovac era starts here | OneFootball

Borussia Dortmund

Kovac is set to take over the reins from interim boss Mike Tullberg, who took charge of three matches following Nuri Şahin’s dismissal last month. Tullberg started his temporary spell with a 2-2 draw against Werder Bremen, before he oversaw victories over Shakhtar Donetsk and Heidenheim in the Champions League and Bundesliga respectively.

While Dortmund may have got the better of Heidenheim last weekend, Kovac takes over a side that are currently sitting in the bottom half of the Bundesliga table. Die Schwarzgelben head into the weekend in 11th position, having won eight, drawn five and lost seven of their 20 league matches this season, leaving them four points adrift of the top four. Kovac will hope to close that gap in his first game in charge, before he turns his focus to Tuesday’s Champions League with Sporting Lisbon in the first leg knockout round playoffs.

Saturday’s hosts have struggled in recent league outings at Signal Iduna Park, having drawn three and lost one of their previous four Bundesliga home matches since they beat Freiburg 4-0 in November. They have also gone five games without a win against Stuttgart, including defeats in each of their last four head-to-head meetings.

Team News

Dortmund are without the injured duo of Niklas Süle and Felix Nmecha, while Nico Schlotterbeck will serve the second game of a two-match ban.

Stuttgart

Fifth-placed Stuttgart are sitting just a point adrift of the top four after winning nine, drawing five and losing six of their 20 Bundesliga matches this season. Sebastian Hoeneß’s side have experienced disappointment in their last two league matches, losing 2-0 away to Mainz, before falling to a 2-1 defeat in last Saturday’s home clash with Borussia Mönchengladbach. However, they had no trouble in emerging victorious in Tuesday’s DFB-Pokal tie against Augsburg. Deniz Undav’s first-half effort proved enough to clinch a 1-0 home victory, sealing Stuttgart a place in the semi-finals for the second time in three seasons.

Die Schwaben will now turn their focus back to league action for Saturday’s trip to Signal Iduna Park. The visitors are looking to complete a league double over Dortmund after cruising to a 5-1 victory in September’s reverse fixture. They have also won two of their previous four away league games against Dortmund (L2), including a 1-0 victory in their most recent away encounter in April 2024.

Team News

Stuttgart are unable to call upon Dan-Axel Zagadou, El Bilal Touré, Luca Raimund and Ameen Al-Dakhil, while  Hoeneß has also revealed that there are doubts surrounding the availability of Enzo Millot, Nick Woltemade, Josha Vagnoman and Jacob Bruun-Larsen.