Stuttgart welcome Werder Bremen to MHPArena on Sunday, 25 April 2026, with the hosts trying to hold their place in the Bundesliga top four and the visitors trying to stay out of the relegation playoff zone. Stuttgart are fourth with four games left, while Werder sit 15th on 31 points.
The timing gives Stuttgart almost no room for a let-up. They are two points clear of fifth-placed Hoffenheim and four points ahead of sixth-placed Bayer Leverkusen, and they reached another peak only a day earlier by beating Freiburg 2-1 after extra time in the DFB-Pokal semi-final. Tiago Tomas scored the winner, and Stuttgart will meet Bayern Munich in the final on 23 May.
That cup run has come alongside a league pattern that has been hard to read. Stuttgart have alternated between victory and defeat in their last eight matches across all competitions, though they did beat Hamburger SV 4-0 on 12 April before losing 4-2 to Bayern one week later. They have also won consecutive home matches for the first time since mid-February, a small run that matters because the season is down to its final stretch.
Werder arrive with a different kind of urgency. They are five points above 16th-placed St Pauli, who occupy the relegation playoff spot, and seven points clear of 17th-placed Wolfsburg. Their 3-1 win over Hamburger SV in the Nordderby on Saturday, 18 April 2026, was their latest step in a recovery that looked unlikely only weeks ago, with Jens Stage scoring twice and Cameron Puertas adding a goal in the 91st minute.
That result was part of a broader improvement that changed their outlook. Werder have won four of their last seven matches after going winless in their previous 13, a run that included a 4-1 victory at Union Berlin on 8 March 2026 and a 1-0 win at Wolfsburg two weeks later. The gap between a late escape and a nervous finish is still thin, and Saturday's clash gives them a chance to widen it.
Stuttgart will be without Finn Jeltsch because of an abdominal injury, while Justin Diehl and Lazar Jovanovic are also unavailable. Luca Jaquez and Jeff Chabot are expected to start in central defense, and Chris Fuhrich, Deniz Undav and Jamie Leweling are expected to support Tiago Tomas. Werder Bremen, meanwhile, travel with an extensive list of absentees, which leaves their revived form under pressure against a side that has more to play for in both the league and the cup.