Will Union make it into the Europa League?
The 34th matchday in the Bundesliga is all about the relegation battle. But also in the fight for the European starting places, some decisions will be made on the last Saturday of this season. Among other things, there is still a vacant spot in the Champions League at stake, as well as the division of which teams will make it into the Europa League and who will have to make friends with the Conference League.
In the middle of the pack is 1. FC Union Berlin, who are preparing to top last year’s outstanding result when they finished seventh in the final standings. If the prediction of a home win for the capital club in the home match between Union Berlin and Bochum comes true, sixth place will be secured at least once. Should Freiburg also fail to win at Leverkusen in the parallel match, the Fischer team would even climb to fifth place in the rankings.
But before that, the Eisern have to solve their compulsory task against VfL Bochum. This is no easy task, especially considering that the Ruhr team has recently celebrated two wins in a row and has already taken all three points from Dortmund’s Signal Iduna Park.
Union Berlin – Statistics & current form
In my eyes, too much is reported about the strong season of 1. FC Köln or SC Freiburg, but without giving the Eisernen at least as much honour and recognition in the media. The fact is that the chances of making it into the Europa League for the first time in club history are extremely high. Urs Fischer’s team has sixth place in the final standings in its own hands.
The fact that the Red and Whites are actually in a remarkable starting position in the final straight is primarily thanks to the last few weeks. In the past six league games, the Berliners have picked up an impressive 16 points out of a possible 18.
Union is the most in-form team in the league
Since the beginning of April, last year’s seventh-placed team has collected the most points of any club in the league. In total, the team from Köpenick has 54 points, which is also a new club record. Incidentally, since 2008/09, no Bundesliga club from the capital has had as many points as Union 2021/22.
The probability that a bet on a home win between Union Berlin and Bochum on Saturday afternoon will pay off is also very high, as the Fischer team is traditionally strong at home. In a review of the past 32 BL home games at the Alte Försterei, there have been just two defeats. One in October 2021 against FC Bayern and one in February this year against BVB. In view of this outstanding record in front of their own fans, it is not to be expected that the 2001 Cup finalists will now let their guard down.
With the exception of Timo Baumgartl, who had to undergo a tumour operation, all players are on board. Meanwhile, one or two players will play their last game in a Union shirt. For example, Grischa Prömel, who scored six of his seven goals in the second half of the season and is thus the team’s top scorer in 2022. The midfielder will rejoin his former club from Hoffenheim for the coming season. European duties do not await him there, however.
Predicted line-up of Union Berlin:
Luthe – Jaeckel, Knoche, Ryerson – Trimmel, R. Khedira, Gießelmann – Haraguchi, Prömel – Becker, Awoniyi
Last matches played by Union Berlin:
Bundesliga
07/05/2022 – SC Freiburg 1 – 4 Union Berlin
30/04/2022 – Union Berlin 1 – 1 Greuther Fürth
23/04/2022 – RB Leipzig 1 – 2 Union Berlin
DFB Cup
21/04/2022 – RB Leipzig 2 – 1 Union Berlin
Bundesliga
17/04/2022 – Union Berlin 2 – 0 Eintracht Frankfurt
Bochum – Statistics & current form
Similarly to Union Berlin, VfL Bochum have also had an unexpectedly strong season. Many experts considered the team to be a hot relegation candidate, but the Ruhr side managed to stay out of the danger zone for 34 match days and finally managed to stay in the top flight ahead of schedule. Even after staying in the league, there is no sign of a drop in tension at VfL. Quite the opposite, in fact. After the spectacular 4:3 victory in Dortmund, they defeated Bielefeld 2-1 the previous week.
Coach Thomas Reis’ charges are currently in a liberated mood, brimming with self-confidence and have set themselves the internal goal of achieving the best possible result in the final standings. In the event of a win on Saturday afternoon, they could even jump up to tenth place. The maximum they can drop is to 13th position.
Will Bochum celebrate three BL victories in a row for the first time since 2007?
However, they will be desperate to avoid that in the west of the republic, even though the Blue and Whites are much weaker away than at home. Exactly two thirds of all points were scored at home (28 out of 42). On the other hand, ten of 16 games away from home were lost.
However, if you take into account the impressions of the past two matches and the aforementioned aspect that the visitors can play in a free and carefree manner, you can well imagine that both teams will score between Union Berlin and Bochum. In five of the last six VfL appearances in opposing stadiums, both opponents have scored.
In terms of personnel, there could be one or two changes. For example, substitute keeper Esser could get a well-deserved start at the end of the season. In general, however, coach Reis makes it clear before this match that the sporting ambition is there in any case and that the team does not want to give up this game. There are no notable absences due to injuries. All men are on board, so the coach even has a few options from the bench.
Predicted line-up of Bochum:
Riemann – Gamboa, Masovic, Leitsch, Danilo Soares – Losilla – Pantovic, Rexhbecaj – Asano, Holtmann – Polter
Last matches played by Bochum:
Bundesliga
07/05/2022 – VfL Bochum 2 – 1 Arminia Bielefeld
30/04/2022 – Borussia Dortmund 3 – 4 VfL Bochum
24/04/2022 – VfL Bochum 0 – 2 Augsburg
16/04/2022 – SC Freiburg 3 – 0 VfL Bochum
10/04/2022 – VfL Bochum 0 – 0 Bayer Leverkusen
Union Berlin – Bochum Direct comparison / H2H balance
For only the second time, the clubs meet in Germany’s highest division. Union narrowly won the first leg 1-0 at the Ruhrstadion, with Max Kruse scoring the winning goal, but he will definitely not be celebrating a goal in the iron jersey this Sunday. Another interesting statistic is that Union has not won as many professional football matches against any other club as against VfL (twelve). The most recent five home matches against Bochum were also all won by the Köpenicker.
Union Berlin – Bochum Tip
In many games of the last Bundesliga matchday, there is still a lot at stake on Saturday. This is also the case at the Stadion an der alten Försterei, where Union Berlin welcomes Bochum. According to the odds, the Eisernen are the clear favourites, which is due to the fact that the home side would secure sixth place if they won and would thus celebrate their entry into the Europa League. For the visitors from the Ruhr, on the other hand, the only thing that matters is a final place in the secure midfield.
As Urs Fischer’s team have lost only two of their last 30 home games and have taken 16 points from their last six matches, we agree with the bookmakers’ assessment, but would also like to point out that the prices are so low that a real value cannot necessarily be identified.
We therefore switch to an alternative betting market and play the tip between Union Berlin and Bochum that both teams will score.
