Bochum still strong at home?
The history of the Bundesliga continues to be written. Saturday sees the 940th pairing in the German top flight. For the first time, VfL Bochum and Union Berlin will meet at this level. Both coaches are banking on experience, as the Revierklub and the Eisernen have the oldest teams in the Bundesliga on average.
VfL are in a good twelfth place in the table and have 20 points to their name with one matchday to go in the first half of the season. Extrapolated, the Revierklub will have 40 points at the end of the season and will stay in the league. A win on Saturday against the capital club would be seen as a pure bonus and would almost allow the Bochum side to catch up with the Eisern.
Union Berlin currently find themselves in eighth place. Urs Fischer’s team was on course for the Champions League for a long time, but recently had to let up a little. The team currently has 24 points, so the forecast for Saturday’s clash between Bochum and Union Berlin is for an extremely competitive match.
Tendentially, however, we see the VfL in front. The oddsmakers, however, see the Köpenicker as slight favourites.
Bochum – Statistics & current form
It is certainly not a normal game for Sebastian Polter. The attacker wore the jersey of the Eisernen for many years and is still the best scorer of the Berliners in the second Bundesliga with 42 goals, together with Sky expert Torsten Mattuschka. Should Polter score on Saturday, the jubilation is likely to be rather limited.
Home strong Revierklub
The Bochum side are particularly strong at home. VfL have been unbeaten at Castroper Straße for five games and have picked up a fantastic eleven points in the process. In addition, VfL have conceded the fewest goals in the league in their own arena. That almost sounds like a prediction of a win for the Revierklub in the duel between Bochum and Union Berlin could be apt.
During the week, however, VfL had to admit defeat. At the Bielefeld Alm, Thomas Reis’ team did not deliver a good game and in the end had to admit defeat with 0:2. After the 0:1, keeper Manuel Riemann, who is otherwise playing an outstanding season, made a momentous mistake to make the final score 0:2.
Maxim Leitsch is likely to return to the starting eleven on Saturday. Robert Tesche is also a candidate who could play from the start. There is a question mark over Danilo Soares’ ability to play. With Saulo Decarli and Simon Zoller, only two injured players are missing. In addition, Eduard Löwen is in quarantine.
Predicted line-up of Bochum:
Riemann – Stafylidis, Masovic, Leitsch, Danilo Soares – Losilla – Pantovic, Rexhbecaj, Holtmann, Antwi-Adjej – Polter – Coach: Reis
Last matches played by Bochum:
1st Bundesliga
12/14 2021 – Arminia Bielefeld 2 – 0 Vfl Bochum
12/11 2021 – Vfl Bochum 1 – 1 Borussia Dortmund
12/04 2021 – Augsburg 2 – 3 Vfl Bochum
11/27 2021 – Vfl Bochum 2 – 1 SC Freiburg
11/20 2021 – Bayer Leverkusen 1 – 0 Vfl Bochum
Union Berlin – Statistics & current form
Things have been better for the Eisernen before. For a long time, the Berliners had established themselves in the top third of the standings, but now it seems as if the triple burden of international competition in the first half of the season was too much. At least the results are not right at the moment.
Problems away from home
The Köpenickers have their problems especially away from home. The Berliners have won only one of their last 13 away games. In addition, they have been goalless for two Bundesliga games. Three matches without a goal in the top flight would be a new negative club record. These statistics do not support betting on a win for the visitors between Bochum and Union Berlin.
In the English week, the Berliners had SC Freiburg as guests at the Alte Försterei. The match promised a lot, but the game could not keep these promises. Both teams tried hard, but neutralised each other for long stretches. It was therefore almost logical that they ended up with a goalless draw.
With Max Kruse, who was absent against Freiburg, the team should be able to score more goals on Saturday. Julian Ryerson is also a candidate for the starting eleven and could replace Christopher Trimmel. In general, things are looking very good for the Eisernen in terms of personnel. As things stand, only one player, young Laurenz Dehl, will be missing.
Predicted line-up of Union Berlin:
Luthe – Friedrich, Knoche, Baumgartl – Ryerson, Khedira, Gießelmann – Haraguchi, Prömel – Awoniyi, Kruse – Coach: Fischer
Last matches played by Union Berlin:
1st Bundesliga
12/15 2021 – Union Berlin 0 – 0 SC Freiburg
12/12 2021 – Greuther Fürth 1 – 0 Union Berlin
Europa Conference League Grp. E
12/09 2021 – Union Berlin 1 – 1 Sl. Prague
1st Bundesliga
12/03 2021 – Union Berlin 2 – 1 RB Leipzig
11/28 2021 – Eintracht Frankfurt 2 – 1 Union Berlin
Bochum – Union Berlin Direct comparison / H2H balance
So far, VfL Bochum and Union Berlin have only crossed paths in the DFB Cup and in the second Bundesliga. A total of 21 duels are on the books. The direct comparison speaks in favour of the Eisernen with 11:7 victories. Three times the encounter between these two opponents ended in a draw.
Things haven’t gone well for the Berliners in Bochum recently. Union has gone five games without a win at Castroper Straße. The last duel took place in the Köpenicker’s promotion season. On 19 May 2019, they parted with a 2-2 draw in Bochum. Anthony Losilla and Silvere Ganvoula gave VfL a 2-0 lead, but Grischa Prömel and Joshua Mees equalised with two late goals.
Bochum – Union Berlin Tip
VfL Bochum have been enormously strong at home this season. VfL have won 14 of their 20 points at home. At Castroper Straße, the Revierklub has been undefeated for four games, picking up eight points in the process. In addition, Bochum have the best defence in the Bundesliga in home games.
For the Eisern, on the other hand, things are not going well at all away from home. They have only won one of their last 13 away games in the Bundesliga. In addition, Urs Fischer’s team failed to score in the last two games.
However, the quotes are also extremely high, which also means increased risk. The odds on a simple home win are also very interesting, however, peaking at 3.00. Given the omens in this duel, we have decided to play the betting odds on a home win between Bochum and Union Berlin.
