Second tier side Jahn Regensburg will host Bundesliga side Stuttgart on Tuesday at Jahnstadion Regensburg for a place in the quarter-finals of the DFB-Pokal.
The hosts are last in 18th place with eight points in the 2. Bundesliga after 14 matchweeks and defeated Greuther Furth 1-0 in their previous DFB-Pokal outing on October 29, while the visitors are ninth in the top flight with 17 points from 12 games and beat Kaiserslautern 2-1 in the previous round in late October.
Match preview
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Jahn Regensburg will have been delighted with their performance against Greuther Furt considering they were reduced to 10 men in the 63rd minute, and though they were already winning 1-0 when goalscorer Rasim Bulic was sent off, it was still an impressive display of defensive resilience.
Last time out in the second tier, the home team drew 0-0 with Eintracht Braunschweig on November 30, and the result was the first time that manager Andreas Patz has overseen a stalemate in his five games in charge.
Patz's side are five points from 15th-placed Eintracht Braunschweig, who are the first team outside the three relegation spots.
Jahn Regensburg have drawn one and lost two of their past three games, but they did win the prior two and have won their last two DFB-Pokal games.
The hosts' record at Jahnstadion Regensburg is mixed, with the club having lost three, drawn one and won one of their last six fixtures at home.
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Meanwhile, the visitors come into the clash having drawn 2-2 with Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga on Saturday, a match in which they faced four big chances and required an 85th-minute equaliser from Ermedin Demirovic to escape with a point.
Stuttgart's victory against Kaiserslautern was also hard fought considering they only progressed to the round of 16 thanks to a 76th-minute winner from Chris Fuhrich.
Boss Sebastian Hoeness's side have scored 23 goals and conceded 21 times in the top flight, and this makes them the division's joint fifth-best offensive and 12th best defensive club.
Hoeness's team are in poor form having been beaten in three of their last six games, drawing two and winning one in that period.
Stuttgart have won nine of their 11 most recent fixtures in the DFB-Pokal, but it is important to highlight that the visitors have lost three, drawn three and triumphed in just one of their past seven matches on the road in all competitions.
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Team News
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The hosts will be without defender Benedikt Saller until the middle of this month, while left-back Oscar Schonfelder will not return until June 2025 due to a cruciate ligament injury.
Midfielder Christian Schmidt and forward Max Meyer are not expected to make their comebacks from injury until March and February respectively, and this could mean that Patz will opt for a back three of Louis Breunig, Rasim Bulic and Leopold Wurm.
Sebastian Ernst and Andreas Geipl are probable candidates to start in midfield, and Kai Proger, Dominik Kother and Christian Kuhlwetter may be selected in attack.
Stuttgart have numerous absentees, including centre-back Dan-Axel Zagadou and left-back Ameen Al Dakhil, though the latter will return in the next few days
Forwards Deniz Undav and El Bilal Toure are also unavailable, as are wide players Jamie Leweling and Luca Raimund.
Expect Hoeness to start goalkeeper Fabian Bredlow in front of centre-backs Anrie Chase and Anthony Rouault.
Atakan Karazor and Frans Kratzig are likely to feature in a double pivot behind strikers Ermedin Demirovic and Nick Woltemade.
Jahn Regensburg possible starting lineup:
Gebhardt; Wurm, Bulic, Breunig; Christian Viet, Ernst, Geipl, Hein; Proger, Kother; Kuhlwetter
Stuttgart possible starting lineup:
Bredlow; Stenzel, Chase, Rouault, Hendriks; Rieder, Karazor, Kratzig, Fuhrich; Demirovic, Woltemade
We say: Jahn Regensburg 0-3 Stuttgart
Stuttgart will want to correct their poor form and gain momentum by putting in a strong performance against their hosts.
Additionally, it is difficult to see how Jahn Regensburg can achieve victory given their struggles in the second tier so far.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Lewis Nolan