Arminia Bielefeld vs Stuttgart Preview: Team News & Prediction | 2024-25 German DFB-Pokal | Final
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It is the DFB-Pokal final this weekend at the Olympiastadion in Berlin and it is a fairytale affair as Sebastian Hoeness’ Stuttgart take on Arminia Bielefeld, who are in the third-tier of German football.
Kick-off date/time:
How to watch on TV: UK – Premier Sports / US – ESPN+
How to watch online: UK – DFB Play & Premier Player / US – DFB Play & ESPN+
Arminia Bielefeld Preview: A fairytale run
Arminia Bielefeld have suffered back-to-back relegations in the last couple of seasons but it has been a magnificent 2024/25 campaign, winning 3. Liga and returning to the second-tier at the first time of asking, whilst also reaching their first ever DFB-Pokal final.
With 39-year-old Michel Kniat at the helm, Arminia pulled off a major upset in the semi-final at the start of April with a shock 2-1 defeat of defending champions Bayer Leverkusen, having beaten Bundesliga sides Werder Bremen, Freiburg and Union Berlin in the earlier rounds.
Stuttgart Preview: Hoeness’ Stuttgart
It has also been a bit of a rollercoaster ride for Stuttgart in the last few seasons. They gained promotion back to the top-flight in 2020 and narrowly avoided the drop in the relegation playoff as recently as 2023 before finishing as runners’ up in the Bundesliga in 2024.
Major sales saw them regress to a bottom-half finish this season but they have built into the final in excellent form, finishing the league season with three successive victories, most recently coming from behind to defeat RB Leipzig by three goals to two last weekend.
Arminia Bielefeld Team News: Kunze set to be back
Midfielder Lukas Kunze has been battling a cold this week but is expected to be fully fit and available for the final. Arminia do remain without centre-back Semi Belkahia due to an injury that requires knee surgery.
Predicted XI (3-4-3): Kersken; Schneider, Russo, Grosser; Hagmann, Schreck, Corboz, Oppie; Sarenren-Bazee, Grodowski, Worl
Unavailable: Belkahia (Injured)
Questionable: Kunze (Illness)
Stuttgart Team News: A few injuries
Stuttgart have been dealing with injuries throughout the campaign and they still have several absentees for this one, too, such as former Burnley defender Ameen Al Dakhil, former Borussia Dortmund defender Dan-Axel Zagadou and Atalanta loanee attacker El Bilal Toure.
Predicted XI (3-5-2): Neubel; Jeltsch, Chabot, Stenzel; Leweling, Karazor, Rieder, Millot, Mittelstadt; Demirovic, Woltemade
Unavailable: Al Dakhil (Injured), Chase (Injured), Stergiou (Injured), Zagadou (Injured), Keitel (Injured), Raimund (Injured), Toure (Injured)
Questionable: Stiller (Injured)
Arminia Bielefeld vs Stuttgart Prediction
Arminia Bielefeld would be playing UEFA Europa League football in the 2. Bundesliga next season if they win this game and they have beaten four Bundesliga sides and one 2. Bundesliga side on their way to Berlin. Stuttgart have endured a mixed campaign, albeit still finished in the top-half and head to the German capital in excellent form. Arminia have proven they can make things difficult for better sides but this is now on neutral territory and Stuttgart have to be viewed as favourites for this one.
Arminia Bielefeld vs Stuttgart Tip: Stuttgart to win & under 3.5 goals
