Second-top Stuttgart will be looking to build on their win against newcomers Arminia Bielefeld when they host Borussia Dortmund.

Former Liverpool defender Markus Babbel scored his first Bundesliga goal in five years for Bielefeld while a Cacau strike took his tally to five goals this season.

Striker Kevin Kuranyi is expected to return from his calf injury, while Marco Streller is still out with a calf injury.

Fernando Meira and Boris Zivkovic are still sidelined with serious knee injuries and are not expected to feature for some time.

Dortmund coach Bert van Marwijk hopes his players will shake off all off their nagging problems when they travel to Stuttgart.

Christian Worns and Sebastian Kehl have been plagued by minor injuries and are doubtful, as is Ewerthon with a thigh injury.

Otto Addo and Christoph Metzelder are recovering from knocks while Salvatore Gambino is out with a knee ligament injury.

Dortmund, who have drawn all of their last five matches, are unbeaten away from home this season.

Stuttgart goalkeeper Tim Hildebrand will be relieved to return to domestic action after a stressful spell with the German national team.

Hildebrand, the third choice keeper for Germany behind Oliver Kahn and Jens Lehmann, criticised Bayern Munich's Kahn for his recent confrontation with Werder Bremen's Miroslav Klose.

In that Bayern/Bremen domestic showdown, Bremen's Klose complained that he had been fouled by Kahn in the box but no penalty was given.

Kahn claimed that Klose threw a punch at him during the dispute but his assessment was not backed up by television replay.

Hildebrand spoke out against Kahn, and Germany's assistant coach Oliver Bierhoff - a former team-mate of Kahn's - said: "I pointed out he needs to be more careful with his remarks in the future."

The reporting on Borussia Dortmund's much covered financial ills have taken some of the spotlight away from Stuttgart boss Matthias Sammer, who was set to be the centre of attention ahead of this game.

Sammer lost his job as Dortmund coach after last season.

The German stock exchange has recently showed that Dortmund suffered significant losses for the trading year 2003-04.

The results showed an overall loss of 67.7million euros, increasing the company's overall debt to 118.8million euros.

They have received a major financial boost from a German investor, who has reportedly asked for president Gerd Niebaum to step down at the next election in 2006.

Former Dortmund boss Sammer has refused to comment on Dortmund's critical financial situation.

"I will not say a single word about their problems," he said. "All the fuss should not shift the attention away from the game."