Stuttgart boss Sebastian Hoeness said that "most things are known," confirming a few injury concerns: Ermedin Demirovic and Yannik Keitel are still recovering, while Dan-Axel Zagadou and Luca Jaquez remain in rehab. He added that Jeff Chabot is unavailable because of suspension after yellow cards.
Despite those absences, Hoeness stressed the importance of what's at stake: "We have a very important match. With a win, the likelihood is very high that we'll stay in the competition with 12 points." He acknowledged that Maccabi are capable of causing trouble:
"They're a team that wants to play football. They're capable of causing us real problems. It's the Europa League." He concluded: "It's all about performance, not pre-match talk."
Stuttgart have looked strong in Europe, beating Go Ahead Eagles 4-0 and Feyenoord Rotterdam 2-0 in recent group matches.
Their league campaign has been shakier, including a heavy 5-0 home defeat to FC Bayern Munich in their last Bundesliga outing.
On the other side, Maccabi have struggled badly in Europe, picking up just one point from five games, scoring once and conceding 14, the worst defensive record in the group.
Their morale is low after a 6-0 thrashing by Olympique Lyonnais, and they'll also be missing right-back Sagiv Jehezkel, who was sent off in that game.
All signs point to Stuttgart being strong favourites to bounce back and secure progression, but as Hoeness warned, Maccabi will demand focus and performance if they want to keep their European hopes alive.
Kylian Mbappe's race to be fit has taken another hit, with the French forward facing a serious battle to return for Real Madrid after remaining unused in their 2-1 defeat to Manchester City at the Bernabeu.
Bayern Munich have moved closer to welcoming Jamal Musiala back into action as the Germany international continued his steady return from the serious leg injury he suffered during the Club World Cup in July.
Jose Mourinho has said Benfica "deserved everything" after they overpowered Napoli in Lisbon to keep their Champions League play-off hopes alive with a vital 2-0 victory.
Eddie Howe said he "let rip" at his Newcastle United players during a "fifteen-minute reality check" in Leverkusen after the Magpies allowed another late goal to undermine their Champions League ambitions.
