Bundesliga Preview: http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/VfB-Stuttgart-c40879 Vs Mainz
Stuttgart made a poor start to the current season and coach, Bruno Labbadia is under intense pressure as his side is lying in 19th place on the table.
With relegation intimadingly close, Bruno needs nothing less than 25 points in the second half of the season, if his team is to finish the season as a Bundesliga side.
With just 12 points at the end of 2010, Stuttgart have a lot of work to do, and as the first challenge of the new year, they face the high flying Mainz in the Mercedes-Benz Arena.
This match will be the start of many tough challenges to come as they will travel to face leaders, Borussia Dortmund next week.
"Overall, we have a tough start, which we must confront with determination. We are well prepared and know what is coming,'' Labbadia said.
Stuttgart have 17 games remaining in the season, and will be aiming for atleast 25 or 30 points out of the possible 51, to avoid relegation.
Stuttgart would be boosted by the return of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ciprian-Marica-c9258 and Timo Gebhardt are also close to making a return and might be available for the Mainz game.
Harald Strutz, the president of Mainz, has already increased pressure on Tuchel. Talking to the German media, he said that, sooner or later, he would be expecting Mainz to qualify for Europe, and now seemed to be the right time to do so.
Apart from http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Bo-Svensson-c7718, who has a knee injury, Tuchel will have a fully fit squad at his disposal for the match.
All the participating teams and their fans were shocked by Mainz as they kicked off the season with 7 spectacular consecutive wins. The streak was broken but the confidence of the Mainz players is still the same. Sitting proudly on second place, with 33
points from 17 matches, Mainz should be looking at a relatively easy match against Stuttgart, who tend to underperform in the second half of the season. Mainz are looking to get a European title berth by the end of the season and their current position should
make it easy for them to do so.
Stuttgart, on the other hand, are five points from safety and it looks as this season might see another big team get relegated, after Hertha http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Berlin-c7536 were relegated last season. A goal difference of -15 doesn’t make things easier for the side either.
Stuttgart have seen a small revival after winning the last two home games, but might be made to work hard for points when they face Mainz, who have become one of the best attacking sides in the Bundesliga this season.
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