Stuttgart's season began with a 3-0 home defeat to Nuremberg which was followed two weeks later by a 3-1 loss at home to Borussia Dortmund. But since then coach Armin Veh's side has remained unbeaten in a march to the top of the table accumulating 24 points on the way, a point ahead of Werder Bremen and Schalke 04 and four ahead of fourth-placed Bayern.

Stuttgart will be without the suspended midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger who has scored on each of his last three outings but was dismissed after picking up a second booking in Sunday's 2-1 defeat of Hanover.

Veh also has several injury doubts including midfielder Daniel Bierofka and defenders Ricardo Osario and Serdar Tasci, while sidelined captain Fernando Meira continues to labor with a calf problem. "Of all teams at the top of the table we have the smallest squad," said Veh. "Now we will have to improvise."

Stuttgart's in-form striker Mario Gomez, at 21 one of several youngsters in the side, said the team will be under no pressure at Bayern. "We want to play good football again but also fight to get into the game," Gomez said. "If we do this we have a chance to win, but we have the greatest of respect for Bayern. It will be a very difficult game."

Bayern coach Felix Magath, who coached Stuttgart before moving to Munich in July 2004, has meanwhile been impressed by his former side's youth policy and the form of Gomez who has scored seven goals in 12 games. "Mario could be someone for us," he told Kicker magazine.

Bayern coach defends team's performances

Magath's team has emerged from a mini-crisis thanks to last Saturday's late 3-2 victory in Bayer Leverkusen, and the coach has been boosted further by the return from injury of midfielder Sebastian Deisler and Brazilian defender Lucio.

Deisler, who has been sidelined for eight months with a knee injury, will be in the squad for the match, while Lucio was able to take part in full training with the side after a three-week break and pronounced himself ready to play.

"We have been made to appear worse than we are," Magath said of the criticism of his team's form. "The league performances have not been overwhelming but there have been reasons for this; the World Cup, the injuries, a team which has to gel," he told Kicker.

"The win in Leverkusen was the crunch. Now things are on the up," he added.

Bremen hope to bounce back from Dortmund defeat

Werder Bremen will be seeking to show their 3-1 home defeat to Borussia Dortmund last Friday was only a minor setback when they travel to lowly Alemannia Aachen.

Werder also have one eye on the visit of Chelsea in the Champions League next Wednesday, but midfielder Tim Borowski -- who made a brief comeback against Dortmund following injury -- said: "Aachen is more important than Chelsea right now. We won't be gifting anything."

Schalke, boosted by last Saturday's 4-0 thrashing of basement club Mainz, are at mid-table Energie Cottbus, still without their injured Brazilian midfielder Lincoln who has missed the last four games with a thigh muscle injury.

Coaches fight for jobs in Bundesliga basement

At the bottom of the table, Mainz take on 15th-placed SV Hamburg -- two teams with just one win apiece this season -- in a key match for beleaguered coaches Jürgen Klopp of Mainz and Thomas Doll of Hamburg.

Elsewhere Saturday seventh-placed Borussia Dortmund meet sixth-placed Hertha Berlin while Nuremberg come up against Bayer Leverkusen in a mid-table meeting. On Sunday, fifth-placed Arminia Bielefeld entertain VfL Wolfsburg and Borussia Mönchengladbach host fellow strugglers Hanover.

Bochum saves itself from relegation

Struggling VfL Bochum on Friday climbed out of the relegation zone with a 4-3 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt.

The goals for the home side came from Zvezdan Misimovic (29),
Marcel Maltritz (33), Heiko Butscher (36) and Theophanis Gekas (46).

Going into the match Bochum were 17th in the 18-team league, but
the victory sees the home side climb to 15th - one clear of the relegation zone.

Leaders VfB Stuttgart travel to fourth-placed Bayern Munich on
Saturday defending a one-point lead from Werder Bremen, who are away to Alemania Aachen and Schalke 04 who face Energie Cottbus.