Preview: Fulham vs Stuttgart - prediction, team news, lineups

With the new Premier League and Bundesliga campaigns just around the corner, Fulham and VfB Stuttgart will use Saturday's meeting at Craven Cottage as their final pre-season test.

The friendly represents one last opportunity for new Cottagers boss Alvaro Arbeloa to fine-tune his side before the Spaniard's first competitive game in charge - a huge Premier League opener against Chelsea.

Match preview

After five stable seasons under Marco Silva, Fulham are entering a new era, with former Real Madrid boss Arbeloa taking his first steps into English football management.

His immediate task is to mould a new-look squad that has undergone plenty of change during the summer transfer window.

Raul Jimenez, Harry Wilson, Issa Diop and Sasa Lukic have all departed, while Fulham have invested heavily in their replacements, bringing in Shea Charles, Cesar Palacios, Gonzalo Garcia and Jonah Kusi-Asare.

Results during pre-season have been mixed, with the Cottagers suffering a recent 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace before drawing 2-2 with Malaga.

The latter encounter ended in rather bizarre fashion, too. Malaga wanted to settle the game with a post-match penalty shootout, only for Fulham to decline the offer, leaving their rivals shooting the ball into an empty net. 

© Iconsport / GSI

While Fulham have struggled for consistency during their preparations, Stuttgart have been flying.

The German side have won four of their five friendly matches, drawing the other, while scoring an impressive 25 goals and conceding just four.

Admittedly, much of that success came against significantly weaker opposition. However, Stuttgart had the perfect opportunity to prove they could also compete against Premier League opposition when they faced Everton last week - and they took it, securing an eye-catching 3-1 victory.

Another Premier League test now awaits last season's DFB-Pokal finalists, with Saturday's trip to Craven Cottage providing Sebastian Hoeness and his players with another valuable examination ahead of a demanding season.

Stuttgart will be competing in the Champions League after finishing fourth in the Bundesliga last term, and the club have strengthened their squad accordingly to cope with the additional workload.

Dzenan Pejcinovic, Bilal El Khannouss and Leo Sauer are among the new arrivals, adding further quality and depth to a squad that will be competing on multiple fronts.

Fulham form (all competitions):

Stuttgart form (all competitions):

Team News

© Imago / Goal Sports Images

Fulham boss Arbeloa has understandably rotated his squad throughout all of Fulham’s pre-season outings, and more of the same is expected on Saturday.

Fulham splashed a record amount of money on Real Madrid striker Garcia, and he is expected to start on Saturday ahead of Rodrigo Muniz. 

Fellow new arrivals Palacios and Charles are also in contention in this final test ahead of the Premier League season.

When it comes to Stuttgart, Fabian Bredlow is expected to start in goal, with backup keeper Dennis Seimen still struggling with an injury.

Centre-back Dan-Axel Zagadou is still carrying a hamstring injury and is highly unlikely to play any part in this weekend’s clash.

The man to watch for the visitors is striker Ermedin Demirovic, who has scored 32 goals over the last two seasons for the German club. 

Fulham possible starting lineup:

Leno; Castagne, Andersen, Bassey, Sessegnon; Berge, Charles; Smith Rowe, Iwobi, Bobb; Garcia

Stuttgart possible starting lineup:

Bredlow; Mittelstadt, Chabot, Jeltsch, Vagnoman; Stiller, Karazor; Fuhrich, El Khannouss, Leweling; Demirovic

We say: Fulham 1-1 Stuttgart

With the new campaign on the horizon, both teams are expected to step up the level of intensity in this final pre-season clash. 

Both clubs have a tonne of quality at their disposal, and we have no choice but to back a draw in what should be an entertaining clash. 

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