Hamburg's leaky defence meets Stuttgart in a battle of near-equals

Hamburger SV have taken two wins from their last five league games, but their defence has been leaking badly, with 15 goals conceded in that stretch. That record now meets a VfB Stuttgart side who have been just as hard to separate from them in the table.

Two sides, one thin line

Hamburg and Stuttgart are 12th and 11th respectively in an 18-club Bundesliga, and both have six points from five rounds. The gap between them is goal difference, where Stuttgart are at -1 and Hamburg at -10. On Saturday, three points would give either side a clear reason to believe they can climb away from the bottom half of the table.

Hamburg’s leaky back line

Hamburg have scored five times in their last five matches, averaging one goal a game, while conceding three a match over that run. Stuttgart have been more productive, scoring eight in five and conceding nine, with a win in their most recent away trip. Both sides have struggled to keep clean sheets this season, so the match could be decided by who finds the decisive goal first.

Stuttgart’s dominance in recent meetings

Stuttgart have won three of the last four Bundesliga meetings between the clubs. Their most recent victory was a 4-0 win in April 2026, and they also won 3-0 at home and 3-1 away in 2023. Hamburg’s only success in that run was a 2-1 home win in November 2025, which they will be keen to repeat.

Missing names on both sides

Hamburg are without N. Remberg, who is injured, and M. Vuskovic, who is unavailable due to a doping case. Several others are doubtful, including P. Daka and A. Gronbaek (both thigh problems), B. Jatta and B. Nadir (both groin), A. Rossing-Lelesiit (ankle) and A. S. Lokonga, who is lacking match fitness. Stuttgart will be missing A. Al Dakhil (knee) and J. Diehl (muscle), while M. Mittelstadt (heel), N. Nartey, T. Tomas and D. Zagadou (all muscle) are in doubt.

Our prediction

We expect a tight contest in which Stuttgart’s superior attacking output and recent head-to-head record should give them the edge. Hamburg’s injury list and porous defence make it difficult to see them keeping the match level for long, although their home crowd may push them to a stronger finish. Hamburger SV 1-2 VfB Stuttgart.