VfB Stuttgart welcomes Eintracht Frankfurt to the Mercedes-Benz Arena on Tuesday afternoon with both sides sitting in the upper half of the Bundesliga table. Stuttgart occupies fifth place with 29 points from 16 matches, while Frankfurt sits seventh with 26 points. Sebastian Hoeneß's high-flying Stuttgart arrives in sparkling form after crushing Bayer Leverkusen 4-1 last Friday, ending a 15-match winless run against the defending champions.
Stuttgart's recent surge has been impressive, collecting 10 points from their last five outings. The thrashing of Werder Bremen (4-0) and the stunning win at Leverkusen bookend a run that also includes a 2-0 DFB-Pokal victory at Bochum. The only blemishes were a goalless draw against Hoffenheim and a heavy 5-0 home loss to Bayern Munich. Jamie Leweling has been on fire, bagging a brace against Leverkusen, while Deniz Undav and Maximilian Mittelstädt provide additional firepower. Hoeneß will be without several key players though, as Tiago Tomás, Dan-Axel Zagadou, and Noah Darvich remain sidelined with injuries expected to keep them out until late January.
Frankfurt arrives in Stuttgart with mixed form under Dino Toppmöller, who extended his contract last May through 2028. Their last five matches produced just one victory—a narrow 1-0 home win over Augsburg—balanced by draws against Dortmund (3-3) and Hamburger SV (1-1), plus heavy defeats to RB Leipzig (6-0) and Barcelona (2-1) in the Champions League. Frankfurt's defense has looked vulnerable, conceding 10 goals in those five fixtures. The visitors face their own injury concerns, with striker Michy Batshuayi ruled out until April with a broken ankle and Farès Chaïbi away on international duty.
Frankfurt has dominated recent meetings between these sides, winning four of the last six encounters. The most recent clash ended 1-0 in Frankfurt's favor last March, while they also claimed a 3-2 victory at Stuttgart in November 2024. Stuttgart did secure back-to-back wins in 2023-24, including a convincing 3-0 home triumph in April 2024, but Frankfurt holds the psychological edge heading into this fixture.
My model backs Over 2.5 Goals at 57/100 (1.57 decimal) with a 65.97% win probability. The correct score prediction is VfB Stuttgart 2-1, with expected goals of 2.14 for the hosts and 1.26 for the visitors. Stuttgart has scored in bunches lately, netting 10 goals across their last three wins, while Frankfurt's fragile defense conceded six to Leipzig just three weeks ago.
