VfB Stuttgart - Eintracht Frankfurt Preview: Both look to win their first game this season

Alexander Zorniger's VfB Stuttgart face-off against Armin Veh's Eintracht Frankfurt at the Mercedes-Benz Arena, this Saturday at 14:30 BST.

Stuttgart unlucky at the Imtech Arena

Both sides haven't started particularly well, as neither have won so far this campaign. Stuttgart have suffered from two defeats in two, losing 3-1 to Köln and 3-2 to Hamburger SV, respectively.

A well-timed pass from Daniel Didavi opened up an opportunity for forward Daniel Ginczek, and slotted his strike past Rene Adler to open up the scoring. Hamburg pulled one back through Ivo Iličević but VfB Stuttgart took the lead again when Christian Gentner's outside of the foot pass fell into Ginczek's path. He calmly took it away from Adler and struck the ball into the net.

It all went wrong when right-back Florian Klein was sent off early in the second half, as Hamburg clawed their way back from 2-1 down to win 3-2 thanks to Pierre-Michel Lasogga and Johan Djourou's 'Henry finish'. Despite a good away performance for Stuttgart, their hard work was undone due to the silly sending off. It is fair to say HSV were lucky and Stuttgart should have took all three points.

Frankfurt steal a point against Augsburg

As for Frankfurt they also fell to defeat in their first game of the season, just losing out 2-1 to last year's runners-up, VfL Wolfsburg. A point at the Commerzbank Arena against Augsburg was a fortunate result for Armin Veh's side after falling behind to Caiuby's powerful strike in the first half.

Due to some late pressure, Marco Russ' strike secured a point for the Eagles. They'll need a much better performance if they're going to take the three points back to Frankfurt this weekend.

Veh's had two spells at Stuttgart

In Veh's first spell in the 2006-07 season - his first full year at the club - he encountered his first Bundesliga success, winning the division. The following season Stuttgart found it tough as champions, finishing in sixth. Unfortunately in November 2008, he was giving his marching orders after a 4-1 defeat to Wolfsburg and five game winless streak.

After numerous spells at other Bundesliga clubs including Wolfsburg, HSV and Frankfurt, Veh began his second spell at Stuttgart which was short-lived. He resigned in November six months into the job, after Stuttgart's worst start to a season for 40 years. The game will be Veh's first back at the Mercedes-Benz Arena since his second departure from Stuttgart.

Player focus

VfB Stuttgart - The man who was clinical during the 3-2 defeat to Hamburg, looks to have found his form once again. Daniel Ginczek suffered with injury last season, but his goal on the last day of the 2014-15 Bundesliga campaign kept Die Schwaben in the Bundesliga.

If he can perform at the top of his game and continue to score goals, Stuttgart will be safe again this year. He showed composure and skill, and he'll need to do the same again this weekend. It's a shame for Frankfurt, as if it wasn't for their defensive frailities, they would already have three points on the board in an 'early six pointer'. Zorniger's side will look to exploit that.

Eintracht Frankfurt - Captain Marco Russ is the inspirational leader that Frankfurt possess. The 30-year-old is currently playing in the defensive midfield role in a bid to protect the back four, but the skipper has a knack for getting forward too. Russ is an essential part of the squad and is a man that can earn the points alone for his side, whether it's an important defensive display or a important goal like in matchday two against Augsburg.

Another good performance could inspire the team to victory this weekend.

Team news

For Stuttgart, two first-team players won't be available for the game against Frankfurt. New signing, Mitchell Langerak, continues to be ineligible due to injury and the suspended Florian Klein will miss the game after receiving a second yellow card against last Saturday.

However SGE, have no new injury concerns yet as last year's top scorer, Alexander Meier, still sits on the sidelines due to a knee injury.

Referee

Bastian Dankert recently took charge of the RB Leipzig's tie against St. Pauli in the 2. Bundesliga and also was the main in the middle for the opening game of the new Bundesliga season, in which the current champions, Bayern Munich, beat Hamburg 5-0.