Fresh from losing their Europa League opener against German opposition, FC Basel face another Bundesliga rival this Thursday night as they welcome VfB Stuttgart to St Jakob-Park.

The Swiss outfit kicked off their latest European campaign with an away defeat at Freiburg, while the Swabians were able to put three points on the board with a home victory over Celta Vigo.

Match preview

Competing in their first main draw European fixture since 2023, Basel failed to make their chances count as they fell to a frustrating 2-1 loss at Freiburg’s Europa-Park Stadion last week.

The defending Swiss Super League champions were hoping to bounce back over the weekend, but instead of returning to winning ways, Basel suffered a disappointing 2-1 defeat to Luzern – already their third loss of the domestic season.

Defensive fragility has become a serious issue for manager Ludovic Magnin, who has seen his men produce one clean sheet from 12 competitive matches this season.

On top of that, the Swiss giants have conceded six goals across their last three matches – a concerning stat, which will inevitably give Stuttgart an added injection of confidence ahead of their short trip to Switzerland.

The pressure is beginning to build on Magnin, who will be determined to find a way past a Stuttgart side he knows all too well, having made 134 appearances for the club as a player and even helping them to a league title in 2007.

Speaking of the Bundesliga outfit, Sebastian Hoeness and his men are starting to pick up some serious momentum, having won five of their previous six competitive outings.

One of those successes came on matchday one of the Europa League, with Stuttgart picking up a solid 2-1 victory over Celta Vigo courtesy of goals from Badredine Bouanani and Bilal El Khannouss.

The Swabians were able to keep the momentum train rolling over the weekend, with the team picking up a 2-1 victory away at FC Koln – a result which moved Stuttgart into the top five of the Bundesliga table.

With three straight wins under their belts, confidence levels are certainly high as Stuttgart prepare to take on Basel in a European competition for the first time since 1978.

Basel Europa League form:

L  

Basel form (all competitions):

L W W W L L 

Stuttgart Europa League form:

W

Stuttgart form (all competitions):

W W L W W W

Team News

Xherdan Shaqiri is the key man for Basel, having already scored six times this term, with four of those arriving before half time.

Benie Traore has not played since early August, and the forward is expected to remain on the sidelines as he battles with his leg injury.

Defender Keigo Tsunemoto, who missed last weekend’s defeat to Luzern, is also expected to join the injury list after damaging his hamstring.

For Stuttgart, Ermedin Demirovic is the man to watch after bagging three Bundesliga goals across his last five games in the competition.

Josha Vagnoman performed well against Koln at the weekend and even scored the winning goal as the Swabians took all three points. Despite this, the 24-year-old is expected to start Thursday’s game on the bench.

Forward Deniz Undav remains on the sidelines for Hoeness, with the player not tasting competitive action for over a month.

Basel possible starting lineup: Hitz; Schmid, Barisic, Vouilloz, Ruegg; Otele, Metinho, Leroy, Salah; Shaqiri, Ajeti

Stuttgart possible starting lineup: Nubel; Mittelstadt, Chabot, Jaquez, Assignon; Stiller, Andres; Leweling, El Khannouss, Bouanani; Demirovic

We say: Basel 1-2 Stuttgart

Basel’s opening game against German opposition ended in a narrow defeat, and we expect a similar scenario to play out on Thursday night.

Stuttgart are in the midst of a serious winning run, and they will be determined to keep that going during these early weeks in the Europa League.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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