Slovan Bratislava vs Stuttgart Prediction 21 January 2025

🔊 Can Slovan earn their first points in the Champions League? There might not be another chance, as the upcoming match will be the last one at "Tehelné pole" in Bratislava. However, Stuttgart is still considered the clear favorite, despite not being in the playoff zone yet. Therefore, they will play only for the win. The difference in class is obvious, nevertheless, we will consider different options to make the prediction optimal.

📊 Head-to-head

The opponents met in the 2010/11 season in the Europa League qualification. Stuttgart secured a minimal advantage away (1:0), and at home, they barely maintained the difference (2:2). The "Swabians" had to come from behind. They conceded two goals and equalized when they gained a numerical advantage.

🔵 Slovan

Slovan is the leader of the Slovak championship. However, they are only three points ahead of Žilina. The team is aiming for their seventh consecutive title, but they are non-competitive in the Champions League. Making it to the main stage of the tournament is a significant achievement for a club with a modest budget. They have not been able to increase it much yet, as Slovan lost all six matches. However, they only failed to score against Manchester City and Girona. In other cases, Slovan scored and even made Milan nervous at the end by scoring a second goal (2:3). In the upcoming match, Tigran Barseghyan, who got injured in the match against Atletico, will not play. He was also the author of one of the goals against Milan.

⚪ Stuttgart

Stuttgart was one of the best teams in terms of performance in the first six rounds of the Champions League. However, they earned few points. The team made a strong statement at "Santiago Bernabeu". In the first half, they openly outplayed Real Madrid but did not score. It ended in a defeat (1:3). In the match against Juventus, both the impression of the game and the result matched (1:0). It was surprising that the "Swabians" suffered a defeat from Crvena Zvezda (1:5), which could close their road to the playoffs. However, in the next round, Stuttgart defeated Young Boys with the same scoreline. The Bundesliga went on a break, which the team used wisely. They resumed the championship with three victories. For example, recently, they scored four unanswered goals against Freiburg. Before that, Stuttgart defeated Leipzig (2:1). Jacob Bruun Larsen, who joined from Hoffenheim in January, scored his debut goal. The upcoming match will be missed by Dan-Axel Zagadou, who has played only two matches this season. El Bilal Toure will also be absent, but there are currently no problems with forwards in the team.

⚽️ Prediction on Goals

Slovan has scored in 10 consecutive matches. They also scored in four rounds of the Champions League. Stuttgart has a clear bias towards attack. Therefore, the hosts will find their moments in counterplay. In such a situation, there is a high probability that Slovan will score.

🚩 Prediction on Corners

Both teams approach the match with upward trends on corners. In eight consecutive Champions League games involving Slovan, there were at least 10 corners. This number is even higher in 6 out of Stuttgart's last 7 away matches. Therefore, a bet on total corners over 9.5 seems justified.

📝 Match Prediction

Stuttgart is the favorite for the upcoming match. They need a win, so expect the visitors to attack from the first minutes. They might concede but will likely secure three points, so we note a potential exact score of 1:3.

Stuttgart is showing excellent form in January. The club has tried to strengthen its squad, and many injured players have recovered. Slovan played their last official match a month ago, so they clearly lack match practice. In this situation, we suggest betting on Stuttgart's victory with a handicap (-1.5).