VfB Stuttgart vs. Heidenheim preview: Hosts aim to break home curse | OneFootball

VfB Stuttgart

VfB Stuttgart and Union Berlin made history with their 4-4 draw last week, as all eight goals were scored in a single half - an unprecedented feat in Bundesliga football.

While scoring goals hasn't been an issue for Stuttgart this season, head coach Sebastian Hoeness is concerned about the number of goals concede.

"We’re all working together to reduce the number of goals we've conceded," Hoeness said ahead of Friday’s game against Heidenheim, emphasizing that the key to success is “being solid defensively while remaining dangerous in attack.”

The Swabians will be eager to end their home struggles, having gone winless in their last five Bundesliga matches at the MHPArena ahead of Friday’s fixture.

“It’s not pleasant to read, but it makes it even more important that we deliver a strong performance on the pitch to secure the right result,” Hoeness added.

Team newsIn addition to long-term absentees El Bilal, Dan-Axel Zagadou, Anrie Chase, Nikolas Nartey and Luca Raimund, Enzo Millot will miss the game for Stuttgart due to a muscle injury. Josha Vagnoman and Justin Diehl are still working on getting back to full fitness, but Jamie Leweling is fit again.

FC Heidenheim

Frank Schmidt’s side suffered their third consecutive Bundesliga defeat last week, falling to a heavy 0-4 loss against Bayern Munich. The result has left them in 16th place, eight points behind 15th-placed Hoffenheim and just two points above Bochum below them.

With only four games remaining this season, Heidenheim are desperate to collect as many points as possible to avoid direct relegation to the 2. Bundesliga.

Although Schmidt acknowledges that Stuttgart are the favorites, he remains confident in his team's chances of getting a result.

“Our task now is to show more resistance and resilience,” he said. “VfB are the favorites, but we’re definitely not without a chance."

“We need to deliver a performance where, regardless of the opponent’s home record, we’re competitive. Against VfB, it has to be such that our kit man has every reason to start the washing machine after the game.”

Team newsDelivering a personnel update, Frank Schmidt said:

“Overall, not much has changed. 'Honsi' (Mathias Honsak) has trained with us this week. We’ll have to see if we include him after his long break. As for Budu (Zivzivadze), he’s making progress, but he won’t be available this week either.”