Hamburger SV welcome VfB Stuttgart to the Volksparkstadion on Saturday, as the two sides aim to jump into the top half of the Bundesliga.

Hamburg

After a dreadful start to the Bundesliga season, Hamburg secured a huge result last time out, with Miro Muheim sealing a stoppage-time winner away at Hoffenheim. 

That came after Merlin Polzin's side finally added their first win of the season before the international break, when HSV won 2-1 away at Köln.

Now, they sit 12th, behind Saturday's opponents Stuttgart on goal difference, though the big gulf between -10 and -1 comes from the successive 5-0 defeats Hamburg suffered against Mainz and RB Leipzig at the start of the term. 

The hosts do have fond memories of this fixture from last season, with Fabio Viera netting a last-gasp on home soil. 

Team news

On the team news front, Polzin was hugely disappointed to lose captain Nicolai Remberg last time out, with the midfielder sidelined until the end of the season due to a cruciate ligament tear. 

Zakaria El Ouahdi, Albert Grønbæk, Bakery Jatta, Bilal Nadir and Patson Daka also sit on the sidelines, with the entire group set to return in the coming weeks. 

Stuttgart

It has not been the most ideal start to the season for Stuttgart, who have been winning matches, but have not been doing so at a canter. 

You might assume Thursday's scoreline against Bratislava says otherwise, but as with Paderborn last Saturday, it was far from comfortable in the Slovakian capital despite the 3-0 win for VfB. 

In the league, Sebastian Hoeneß's side have won twice and lost three, with seven of their nine goals conceded coming away from home. 

However, after successive wins in the league and Europe, Die Schwaben are looking to leave the uncomfortable start behind and start threatening at the top of the table, as expected. 

Team news

Much remains the same in team news for Hoeneß, with Tiago Tomas, Dan-Axel Zagadou, Nikolas Nartey, and Ameen Al Dakhil all set to return before the end of the month. 

Maximilian Mittelstädt was added to that list after a heel injury last weekend, but the German international won't have to wait long to return.

With this in mind, Ramon Hendriks could fill in at left-back as he did in the Champions League on Wednesday.