Bochum’s fight against relegation begins against Mainz

The new season in the Bundesliga starts for Bochum and Mainz with a direct duel. Both teams have of course set their sights high for the new season, but the starting situations are quite different

In the run-up to the match between Bochum and Mainz, the betting odds indicate a favourite role for the visitors. This is not blatant, but the bookmakers tend to see the 05er in front.

The Bochum side in particular have had a complicated transfer summer and don’t really know where they stand. Against Mainz, an assessment of where they stand should provide some insight into this. Kick-off is Saturday at 3:30 p.m.

Bochum – Statistics & current form

Bochum will be looking to put in a good performance at home against Mainz and will be hoping to pick up a first point or even three. In the previous season, Bochum managed to stay in the league; they should be able to do the same this season. The question that arises, however, is whether the squad is sufficient to do so. In the summer, there were some movements in the squad of the hosts, but these were sometimes eyed critically.

New signings like Förster, Horn or Ordets provided more width in the squad, but this also has to be seen a bit critically because players with a lot of quality, including Polter or Pantovic, left the club. Last season, the club managed to stay in the league because Bochum were able to make the most of their opportunities after a certain period of acclimatisation in the Bundesliga was necessary.

The second year in a new league is often the hardest, at least that is a common saying. For Bochum, however, this can certainly apply after the activities so far in the summer. Already on the first matchday against Mainz, the host finds itself in the role of the underdog and there are many teams that are superior to Mainz.

Bochum must find themselves quickly

Of course, Bochum have already played one competitive match, namely the DFB Cup game at Viktoria Berlin. The Bochum team won 3:0 and left nothing to be desired. It was important to start the new season on a positive note, because the start of the league with Mainz, Hoffenheim, Bayern and Freiburg is anything but pleasant. A negative spiral can quickly develop here.

Over the season, Bochum have won three of their last six games, losing the rest. VfL played a very decent 2021/22 season and hopes to repeat this. Especially at home, Bochum was always good for a very good game, won furiously against FC Bayern, recorded eight of the twelve victories in the pre-season at home. In addition, the team from the Ruhr area conceded only about half the goals at home that they had to concede away from home.

So having the opener at home could be an advantage for Bochum. Mainz, however, is a very unpleasant opponent to play against, who also has a lot planned. Therefore, before the match Bochum vs Mainz, our prediction is that both teams will meet in this match.

Predicted line-up of Bochum:
Riemann – Janko, Masovic, Lampropoulos, Stafylidis – Losilla, Osterhage, Förster – Holtmann, Antwi-Adjej, Zoller

Last matches played by Bochum:

DFB Cup
30/07/2022 – Viktoria Berlin 0 – 3 VfL Bochum

Friendly club matches
23/07/2022 – VfL Bochum 6 – 2 Antalyaspor

21/07/2022 – Athletic Bilbao 4 – 1 VfL Bochum

16/07/2022 – Spezia 1 – 2 VfL Bochum

13/07/2022 – Lecce 2 – 3 VfL Bochum

Mainz – Statistics & current form

FSV Mainz 05 can look back on a season with many contrasts. Football-wise, the development in some sub-elements of the game was quite useful, however, this does not apply to all of these elements. In addition, Mainz had to let one or two players go in the summer, especially in the defensive centre.

As always with the 05ers, this should be compensated for by team unity. Newcomers like Caci, Fulgini and Barkok are slowly but surely being integrated. In the defensive centre, however, there should ideally still be something to do in order to be well-staffed across the board. Bo Svensson nevertheless had his team play with a three-man defence in the first game of the season, winning 3:0 in the cup against Aue.

The win against Aue means Mainz are now unbeaten in four consecutive competitive matches. Bochum, Union and Augsburg is also a programme for the opener that is quite feasible. Mainz could therefore seize the initiative early on and pull away from the relegation places.

Mainz must score better away from home

Mainz’s primary goal in 2022/23 is also to stay in the league for the time being – and to do so as worry-free as possible. To achieve this, Mainz 05 must score better away from home, because there is no guarantee that they will have such a strong home season again. Mainz celebrated only three of their 13 wins in the pre-season in away games, which is clearly too few.

Also, only 17 of the 50 goals scored in the pre-season were scored away from home. The fact that they won in Aue, even if the opponent was a third-class team, can at least help to break this deadlock. Mainz have the quality to play their own game away from home, and Svensson must remind the team of that.

Because Mainz have already shown good offensive sequences in preparation and also because both teams have yet to develop automatic defensive mechanisms, our value tip before the match between Bochum and Mainz is that more than 2.5 goals will be scored.

Predicted Mainz line-up:
Zentner – Leitsch, Hack, Bell – Widmer, Stach, Barreiro, Caci – Lee – Burkardt, Onisiwo

Last matches played by Mainz:

DFB Cup
31/07/2022 – Erzgebirge Aue 0 – 3 Mainz 05

Friendly club matches
23/07/2022 – Mainz 05 1 – 1 Athletic Bilbao

18/07/2022 – Mainz 05 1 – 0 Newcastle

16/07/2022 – Beşiktaş 1 – 0 Mainz 05

02/07/2022 – Mainz 05 4 – 0 Wormatia Worms

Bochum – Mainz Direct Comparison / H2H Balance

Mainz 05 and Bochum have faced each other directly in 18 matches so far. Mainz won nine of them, six of them even in the Bundesliga. In the pre-season, there was a 1:0 for Mainz at home and a 2:0 win for Bochum in the Ruhr area. With 24:23, Mainz are only just ahead in goals scored, but the visitors have three more victories than Bochum to their name.

Bochum – Mainz Tip

For Bochum, it’s all about somehow keeping the class in the Bundesliga from the first matchday. The VfL wants to present itself well and try to stand up to Mainz from the start. That’s the only way to achieve success.

Bochum are strong at home, Mainz are weak away from home. However, these statistics are from the old season and the cards are now being reshuffled. Due to the omens, our tip before the match between Bochum and Mainz is that both teams will score at least once.