Leverkusen v Stuttgart: two long injury lists, and a visiting club living two different seasons at once
BayArena, Saturday 31 October, 15:30 CET. Stuttgart are 15th in the Bundesliga and sixth in the Champions League table. Leverkusen are fourth at home, with six players out. The other German game worth your afternoon.
Bayer Leverkusen host VfB Stuttgart at the BayArena at 15:30 CET on Saturday 31 October, one of five Bundesliga games in the afternoon slot before Bayern v Dortmund at 18:30 CET. One of the two clubs has had a very strange autumn.
Why it matters
Leverkusen are fourth on 13 points from seven games, four wins, one draw and two defeats, according to the licensed table used across this site. That is four points behind the two leaders. Their goal difference, goals scored minus goals conceded, is +4. Freiburg are third on the same points with a better goal difference, and Leipzig and Werder Bremen are a point behind on 12. A win keeps Leverkusen in the group chasing the top two before the break; a defeat drops them into the pack.
Stuttgart are 15th on six points: two wins, no draws, five defeats, goal difference minus 3. Only Schalke, Union Berlin and Mönchengladbach are below them, and Schalke and Union have the same six points. That is relegation form, and it sits next to a Champions League record that makes no sense alongside it. In Europe, Stuttgart have seven points from three games, two wins and a draw, and are sixth in the 36-club table, above Arsenal and Barcelona. The same squad, the same coach, two different seasons.
Team news
No confirmed team news as of 07:25 CET; the official teams are normally published about an hour before kick-off, so expect them around 14:30 CET.
The Bundesliga’s official team-news page, updated on Friday, lists six Leverkusen players out: Ben Seghir and Diaby (both hamstring), Doué (calf), Eichhorn (illness), Kofane (thigh) and Terrier (muscle). Badé is a doubt after a head injury. Leverkusen’s head coach is Carles Martínez.
Stuttgart, coached by Sebastian Hoeneß, are without Diehl (thigh), Malanga (abdominal), Tomás (muscle), Vagnoman (hamstring) and Zagadou (hamstring). Nartey (muscle) and Stiller (adductor) are doubts. Stiller is a midfielder, and his name on or off the team sheet is the one to look for at 14:30 CET.
Eleven players out or doubtful across two squads is a lot for the end of October, and it goes some way to explaining why the game is harder to call than the table suggests.
The week around the game
| Date | Fixture | Competition | Kick-off (CET) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat 31 Oct | Leverkusen v Stuttgart | Bundesliga, matchday 8 | 15:30 |
| Tue 3 Nov | Galatasaray v Stuttgart | Champions League, matchday 4 | 18:45 |
| Thu 5 Nov | Leverkusen v Marseille | Europa League, matchday 4 | 21:00 |
| Sat 7 Nov | Stuttgart v Werder Bremen | Bundesliga, matchday 9 | 17:30 |
Times come from the fixture feed used across this site and the published European schedule, and can still change. Stuttgart fly to Istanbul three days after Saturday’s game, which is the kind of week that tends to decide how a coach picks his team. Leverkusen’s next league game is the Rhine derby at Köln the following weekend.
How to read the market
BettingBeast’s prices, captured at 13:54 CET on Friday, had Leverkusen at 1.84 to win, the draw at 4.53 and Stuttgart at 4.07. Decimal odds show how much you get back for every unit staked, including the stake, so 1.84 means a return of 0.84 on top of each 1 risked. As rough probabilities, that is about 54% for a Leverkusen win, 22% for a draw and 25% for Stuttgart. The three add up to slightly more than a whole because the platform’s margin, its built-in fee, is included.
A 54% home favourite against the team in 15th is not a strong favourite. Compare it with Bayern at 1.37 against Dortmund later the same day. The market is clearly looking at Stuttgart’s European results and their injury list as much as at their league position. The handicap, which gives the weaker side a head start on paper, is half a goal: Leverkusen minus 0.5 at 1.82, Stuttgart plus 0.5 at 2.17, which in plain words is Leverkusen to win against Stuttgart to draw or win. The goals line, the number of goals the market splits the game at, is 3.5, with over at 1.81 and under at 2.14, so the market leans towards four goals or more.
What to watch
The first 15 minutes will tell you which Stuttgart turned up. The side that is sixth in Europe has a goal difference of +5 from three games; the side that is 15th in Germany has lost five of seven. For Leverkusen, the question is who plays wide with Diaby, Ben Seghir and Terrier all out, and whether a thinned-out squad can keep its shape for 90 minutes against a team with nothing to lose.
Our lean, phrased as a possibility and not a forecast: with both squads this short of players and Stuttgart’s season split down the middle, the draw at 4.53 looks a little long for a game the market itself rates as close. That is an opinion about one price, not a prediction of the score.
18+. Gambling involves risk and can be addictive. Please gamble responsibly. Prices quoted were correct at the time stated and move. This article is information and opinion, not advice; no outcome is certain. Odds links go to BettingBeast. Help: Gambling Therapy.
- Bundesliga Matchday 8 probable teams, Bundesliga. Read 06:58 CET, 31 Oct 2026.
- Bundesliga and Champions League standings and fixtures (licensed data feed, generated 30 October 2026, 13:52 CET), football-data.org. Read 06:40 CET, 31 Oct 2026.
Plain-text version: leverkusen-v-stuttgart-two-injury-lists-and-a-club-living-two-seasons-at-once.md