Dynamo Dresden will host Stuttgart in the first round of the DFB-Pokal on Friday, with the hosts competing in the third tier of German football after suffering relegation last season, while Stuttgart narrowly preserved their Bundesliga status.
After being relegated from the Bundesliga in 1995, Dynamo Dresden have regularly drifted between the second and fourth tiers of German football, having won the third division as recently as 2021.
That will once again be Dresden’s primary aim this season, although a cup run can never be viewed as a bad thing for any club in any division.
Since progressing to the semi-finals of the 1994 DFB-Pokal, when they lost 2-0 to eventual champions Werder Bremen, Dynamo Dresden have only twice made it beyond the second round.
With Dynamo Dresden’s campaign already beginning after a 4-3 defeat to 1860 Munich at the weekend, Markus Anfang will be hoping that his side can catch Stuttgart cold in their opponents’ first competitive match of the campaign.
However, Stuttgart seem to have improved in pre-season, winning all four of their matches against, Boblingen, FC Zurich, Brentford and Valencia, scoring 17 goals overall.
The 5-2 success against Valencia last weekend did not seem as a friendly either, with plenty of heavy tackles going in frm both sides, with Silas being in inspired form, scoring and assisting either side of half time, while Darko Churlinov and Tiago Tomas both got themselves on the scoresheet.
While Stuttgart may have overachieved upon their return to the Bundesliga when finishing in the top half two seasons ago, the opposite was probably true when only avoiding the relegation playoff by virtue of goal difference last season.
Pellegrino Matarazzo will be hoping for a stronger season this time around, with as assured win away to Dynamo Dresden on Friday the perfect start towards achieving that goal.
Dynamo Dresden vs Stuttgart head to head
The two teams have previously met on 14 occasions across all competitions, where Dresden have claim four victories while Stuttgart have won six, and they have drawn in four. Stuttgart have scored 25 goals and conceded 18. In their last five meetings, Stuttgart have won three, Dresden one with one draw.
Stuttgart 3-3 Dynamo Dresden 02/04/17
Stuttgart 1-2 Dynamo Dresden 12/07/17
Stuttgart 3-1 Dynamo Dresden 03/11/19
Stuttgart 3-1 Dynamo Dresden 24/01/20
Dynamo Dresden 0-2 Stuttgart 31/05/20
Dynamo Dresden latest home form
Dynamo Dresden have recently failed to keep a good run of form at home, having won just one of their 10 most recent matches. They lost 4-3 to 1860 Munich in their last home game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored four goals and conceded seven.
Dynamo Dresden 0-1 Heidenheim 29/06/22
Dynamo Dresden 0-0 Sint-Truiden 03/07/22
Dynamo Dresden 0-2 Borussia Dortmund 09/07/22
Dynamo Dresden 1-0 Teplice 16/07/22
Dynamo Dresden 3-4 1860 Munich 23/07/22
Dynamo Dresden latest away form
Dynamo Dresden have recently been on a relatively good run of form on the road, having been unbeaten in their four most recent matches. They managed to defeat Auerbach 3-1 in their last away game in a friendly. In their last five matches, they have scored eight goals and conceded seven.
Sandhausen 2-1 Dynamo Dresden 10/04/22
Fortuna Dusseldorf 2-2 Dynamo Dresden 22/04/22
Karlsruhe 2-2 Dynamo Dresden 08/05/22
Kaiserslauten 0-0 Dynamo Dresden 20/05/22
Auerbach 1-3 Dynamo Dresden 24/06/22
Stuttgart latest home form
Stuttgart have recently been on a good run of form at home, as they have won each of their four most recent matches. They managed to defeat Valencia 5-2 in their last home game in a friendly. In their last five matches, they have scored 13 goals and conceded seven.
Stuttgart 1-1 Wolfsburg 30/04/22
Stuttgart 2-1 FC Cologne 14/05/22
Stuttgart 3-2 Zurich 09/07/22
Stuttgart 2-1 Brentford 16/07/22
Stuttgart 5-2 Valencia 23/07/22
Stuttgart latest away form
Stuttgart have recently been on a relatively good run of form on the road, having lost just one of their six most recent matches. They managed to defeat Boblingen 7-1 in their last away game in a friendly. In their last five matches, they have scored 10 goals and conceded six.
Arminia Bielfeld 1-1 Stuttgart 02/04/22
Mainz 0-0 Stuttgart 16/04/22
Hertha Berlin 2-0 Stuttgart 24/04/22
Bayern Munich 2-2 Stuttgart 08/05/22
Boblingen 1-7 Stuttgart 02/07/22
Dynamo Dresden news
Dynamo Dresden will take to the pitch without midfielders Panagiotis Vlachodimos, Jonas Oehmichen, Jongmin Seo and Luca Hermann due to injury.
Manuel Schaffler could earn a start from Anfang having made an impact off the bench with a goal in Saturday game against 1860 Munich, with Christian Conteh potentially making way.
Stuttgart news
Stuugart are expected to have Thomas Kastanaras, Tanguy Coulibaly, Nikolas Nartey and Florian Schock absent due to injury.
Defensive midfielder Orel Mangal recently tested positive for COVID-19, but he looks set to join Nottingham Forest, so he will not be involved here, with new signing Josha Vagnoman handed his competitive debut in defence.
Prediction and Odds
Stuttgart have looked impressive in defence in pre-season, and we expect them to try and avoid conceding a goal in this match.
However, Dynamo Dresden have enough about them to grab a goal here, but we cannot see beyond the Bundesliga side making their superior quality pay on the occasion.
Odds: 1 2.32 X 2.05 2 1.92
Probable outcomes
Dynamo Dresden 0-1 Stuttgart
Dynamo Dresden 0-2 Stuttgart
Dynamo Dresden 1-2 Stuttgart
Dynamo Dresden 1-3 Stuttgart
Dynamo Dresden 2-2 Stuttgart
