Stuttgart and Dortmund ready for ‘in-form’ test

(GSM) – Sunday’s Bundesliga clash of VfB Stuttgart and Borussia Dortmund appears to be a test of preserving form when the in-form duo meet at the Mercedes-Benz Arena.

The Swabians have won their last three games and are unbeaten since Christian Gross took over from Markus Babbel in December.

Meanwhile, the Westphalians have not lost since September, winning nine and drawing three of their last 12 matches.

But their coach Jurgen Klopp has lost every time he has visited Stuttgart, be it with Dortmund or his former club Mainz. Nevertheless, he says that negative record is there to be broken.

“The probability of a streak ending increases the longer it goes on,” he said.

“We want to play a really good game there.”

A win for Dortmund could take them as high as second in the table, should results elsewhere go their way, while Stuttgart could break into the top half of the table with victory.

But Gross, who took over the Stuttgart reins with the team stuck in the relegation zone, has not forgotten his prime objective for the season.

“Dortmund are the clear favourites in my eyes,” he said.

“They want to qualify for Europe while we are still concentrating on avoiding relegation.”

Gross will welcome Jens Lehmann back into his goal this weekend after his three-game suspension came to an end following last weekend’s win over Freiburg. He replaces Sven Ulreich.

Klopp has to do without Sven Bender, who has played in the last 11 unbeaten matches, due to a knee infection. Tamas Hajnal is a candidate to replace him in the centre of midfield.