Friendly | Barcelona vs Stuttgart ~ Match Info & Preview
Stuttgart vs Barcelona predictions, Barcelona will continue their preparations to kick off their 2021-22 campaign with a pre-season contest against German outfit Stuttgart on Saturday night.
The La Liga giants have beaten Gimnastic and Girona in their two friendlies this summer, while Stuttgart have played four times in pre-season, recording three wins and a draw.
Stuttgart started their preparations for the new season with a 10-1 win over Hollenbach on 6 July before recording a 3-0 win over St Gallen four days later.
The Bundesliga outfit then drew 1-1 with Darmstadt on 14 July before beating Arminia Bielefeld 5-2 on 23 July, with the team building ahead of the start of their 2021-22 campaign.
The clash with Barcelona is actually Stuttgart's final pre-season game of the summer, as they will face BFC Dynamo in the DFB Pokal on 7 August before opening their Bundesliga campaign at home against newly promoted Greuther
The Reds, who finished ninth in Germany's top flight last season, have been relatively busy during this summer's transfer window, signing Florian Muller, Chris Fuhrich, Naouirou Ahamada and Omer Beyaz.
Head coach Pellegrino Matarazzo will see this contest as valuable preparation for the start of competitive action on 7 August, and it will be interesting to see how the German side perform against the Catalan giants.
Barcelona, meanwhile, have played twice during pre-season, recording a 4-0 win over Gimnastic on July 21 before beating Girona 3-1 last weekend.
The La Liga club's financial problems are well documented, and Lionel Messi is still yet to officially sign a new contract at the club, which is far from ideal this close to the start of competitive action.
However, Ronald Koeman's side have managed to sign Memphis Depay, Sergio Aguero and Eric Garcia on free transfers this summer, and an announcement about Messi is believed not to be too far away.
Barcelona will face Red Bull Salzburg and Juventus in their next two matches after this one on 4 August and 8 August respectively before opening their 2021-22 La Liga campaign at home to Real Sociedad on 15 August.
Messi may still be unavailable, but a strong squad has already traveled to Germany, with the likes of Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba, Frenkie de Jong and Sergi Roberto set to feature on Saturday night.
Stuttgart will be without Sasa Kalajdzic for the match against Barcelona, as the striker has tested positive for coronavirus and is therefore isolated at home.
The German outfit will also be unable to call on 23-year-old midfielder Fuhrich, who suffered a collarbone injury in the win over Arminia Bielefeld last time out.
Hamadi Al Ghaddioui and Mohamed Sankoh will both feature in the final third, while there is likely to be a place in midfield for Daniel Didavi.
As for Barcelona, Depay and Antoine Griezmann both came off the bench against Girona last time out, and both could now make their way into the starting XI.
Rey Manaj has scored four goals in two appearances for the Catalan giants this summer, and the 24-year-old forward will have to eliminate a head injury to maintain his place in the team.
Elsewhere, Alba and Busquets could break into the XI on Sunday, while Neto, Gerard Pique and Samuel Umtiti are likely to keep their places in the first team.
Predicted Lineup Stuttgart vs Barcelona
Stuttgart : Bredlow; Anton, Kempf, Mavropanos, Karazor; Didavi, Klement, Coulibaly, Massimo; Al Ghaddioui, Sakoh
Barcelona: Grandson; Dest, Pique, Umtiti, Alba; Puig, Roberto, Busquets; Memphis, Manaj, Griezmann
Stuttgart vs Barcelona Score Prediction: 1-1