Basement duel at the Castroper Straße

The thread of patience at many Bundesliga clubs is currently not very thin, fortunately, when it comes to the dismissal of their coaches. Still, a match on Friday could turn into a fateful game, and that goes for both coaches involved in this match. Namely, we look at the basement duel of the ninth matchday in the German Bundesliga in our Bochum vs Mainz tip.

The word crisis is certainly used inflationary by the media, but if we look at the table before Friday’s match at Castroper Straße, then certainly two current crisis clubs meet there. VfL Bochum and FSV Mainz 05 have both failed to record a win in the top flight this season, and of course that is reflected in the standings.

The Revierklub has at least managed four draws from eight games. But that’s still only good enough for second-to-last place. The specter of relegation has already taken root, but should be scared away again with a home win on Friday.

Mainz are at the bottom of the standings with just two points. A draw should be too little for both clubs and possibly for both coaches. The problems in both teams are multi-layered, but one core is for sure that the two weakest offensive lines in the league meet. A shootout should hardly be expected on Friday at Castroper Straße.

Bochum – statistics & current form

When you go so long without a win, historical comparisons are quickly made. VfL Bochum is currently playing the second weakest season is its varied Bundesliga history. However, this circumstance should not be overstated yet, because at this point in the last season there was only one point on the books and we all know that the Revierklubs nevertheless kept the class in strong fashion.

Still going reasonably well at home

The eight Bundesliga games without a win certainly can’t be dismissed out of hand, but in many matches VfL was on par and lost unluckily. Point wins in Leipzig or at home against Dortmund can be seen moreover. The Bochum team is particularly difficult to break down at home. In the last six games at Castroper Straße, there has only been one defeat, but this was in the last home game against Borussia Mönchengladbach in the West.

However, the situation in Thomas Letsch’s team cannot be glossed over either. With just six goals, VfL has the weakest offense and only two teams have conceded more than the 21 goals on the books for Bochum. The bottom line is that it doesn’t sound like it’s mandatory to play the odds for a home win between Bochum and Mainz now, but a point win should certainly be more than possible for the home side.

Last week, Thomas Letsch’s team put in a decent performance in Freiburg and even took a 1-0 lead in Breisgau thanks to a goal from Goncalo Paciencia. Afterwards, VfL struggled with the referee, who did not show a supposed red card for Sportclub, but decided on a penalty for Freiburg in a dubious situation. Thus, Bochum lost in the end in a very unfortunate way with 1:2.

Predicted lineup of Bochum:

Mainz – statistics & current form

Bo Svensson is still not up for discussion, at least according to the official announcements from the Mainz management. The coach believes that he can still reach the team, even if the results certainly leave room for other interpretations. After all, the 05ers are playing their worst season in the Bundesliga to date. Two points from eight games is the record of a relegated team.

Statistics of a relegated team

The Rheinhessen have a lot of construction sites this season and problems everywhere. But if you specify the current condition, then there are three factors on which you can pin the poor start to the season. Firstly, there is the weakness away from home. There has been one point away from home this season, with Mainz only visiting teams in the bottom half of the table.

Cross-season, the 05ers have actually been waiting for a win for eight away games. Only one club has gone longer without a win away from home and that is VfL Bochum. With 22 goals conceded, the Rheinhessen team also has the weakest defense in the league and only the upcoming opponent has scored less once. These are not numbers that could now make us predict an away win between Bochum and Mainz.

Last week, however, Bo Svensson’s team still performed very decently at home against Bayern Munich. Although it was already 0:2 after a quarter of an hour, but the Mainz did not let themselves down. Shortly before the break, Anthony Caci scored the final goal, which should have encouraged the team, but in the end, the quality of the record champion was too great, so that Mainz lost with 1:3 with their heads held high.

Mainz’s likely lineup:

Bochum – Mainz Direct comparison / H2H balance

Round 20 duels have been played between VfL Bochum and Mainz 05 so far. In the direct comparison, the Rheinhessen side have gained an advantage with 11:6 wins and three draws. In the Bundesliga, this duel has taken place a total of ten times. In the process, the 05ers picked up eight victories. This means that Mainz has a higher winning percentage against no other club in the Bundesliga than against VfL.

The last three encounters between these two opponents were also all won by the 05ers. The last match was even extremely high-scoring. At the end of January, the Mainz side led 4-0 after an hour after goals from Jae-Sung Lee, Silvan Widmer and Karim Onisiwo (2). Pierre Kunde and Erhan Masovic cut the deficit with their goals, but the outstanding Karim Onisiwo marked the 5-2 final score with his third goal shortly before the end.

Bochum – Mainz tip

When two teams are in a crisis, it is difficult to give the right tip for this match. However, it is important to note once again at this point that both teams do not let themselves down. In fact, the relationship between coaches and players still seems to be intact, even if the numbers don’t necessarily indicate that.

Both clubs are currently weak defensively and offensively. Too few goals of their own and too many goals conceded are indications that they are at the bottom of the table.

Bochum have lost just one of their last six home games, while Mainz have been unable to get anything going away from home and have been without a win for eight away games. Now the question is whether one of the two clubs will manage the first victory in the not so young season on Friday. We don’t think so and have decided to play the betting odds between Bochum and Mainz for a draw.