Can VfB still win?
After nine matchdays, VfB Stuttgart are the only team in German professional football still without any win. The home defeat last weekend against Union Berlin was also the third defeat in a row.
While there were rumours from the VfB environment before the game that the ailing coach Matarazzo would be given two final games against Union Berlin and Bochum to deliver, those in charge now saw themselves forced to act after the defeat against Union. Matarazzo is therefore history at VfB, but a new head coach has not yet been found. In the home match against Bochum, the current co-trainer Michael Wimmer will be on the VfB bench.
The fact that a new broom sweeps clean and a change of coach can bring about a positive upswing is shown once again by VfB’s upcoming opponents. The Bochum side has already collected four points from three games under new coach Letsch. Thanks to the convincing victory in the previous week against European Cup participant Frankfurt, the team from the Ruhr region travels to the unsettled Swabians with a broad chest.
The best betting providers do not seem to be bothered by this trend and send VfB into this match as surprisingly clear favourites. It is true that Bochum, the worst away team so far and a kind of favourite opponent, is coming to Stuttgart – but VfB are also the worst home team in the league so far.
For the VfB Stuttgart vs. Bochum tip on the home win, only low odds for the home win can be found nevertheless. However, this tip is not without risk despite the change of coach. This is because VfB have only won three Bundesliga games this calendar year and also only one of their last 16 games.
VfB Stuttgart – Statistics & current form
Once again, VfB came away empty-handed last weekend. Thus, VfB is still without a win after nine matchdays. The last three teams that did not win after the ninth matchday in the Bundesliga were also relegated in the end. Three defeats in a row have also pushed them down to the penultimate position in the table.
As a consequence, only one win from the last 16 games and only three wins in the calendar year 2022 were too few for coach Matarazzo and VfB’s demands. The defeat against Union in his 100th game for VfB as coach thus sealed his fate after just over 1000 days in office. The fact that VfB did not have a plan B in the bag regarding a successor and that all potential candidates for the coaching position have already turned down fits into the image that the traditional Swabian club is presenting these days.
Only the upcoming opponents from Bochum have fewer points than VfB in the Bundesliga. The importance of the upcoming home match from VfB’s point of view does not need to be emphasised any further. The betting companies are quite optimistic that the Swabians will succeed in breaking the deadlock. Only low odds can be found on a home win for VfB Stuttgart against Bochum.
Surprisingly, however, one must note. Because a bet on a VfB win is actually associated with a high risk at the moment – after all, the Swabians have only won one of their last 16 encounters in the Bundesliga. But the coaching effect that those responsible are hoping for can, as so often in the football business, release new forces, so with this in mind, the Swabians’ role as favourites can certainly be underwritten. The VfB Stuttgart vs. VfL Bochum forecast is therefore a home win.
Interim coach Wimmer will have to improve his team’s defence in particular. By conceding a goal against Union Berlin, VfB even equalled the age-old negative Bundesliga record of RW Essen with 25 home games in a row without a clean sheet. And a game to nil would be an important foundation stone for the first success of the season.
The VfB have not scored more than one goal in a game at the Mercedes-Benz Arena so far, and have even gone without a goal of their own twice. In addition, Guirassy, who has been the best scorer so far, did his team a disservice with his yellow card against Union Berlin and will now be missing as a central playmaker in the middle of the attack in his team’s important relegation battle.
Even more serious, however, is the absence of the suspended Karazor. Without the defensive midfielder, who trained in the academy of their upcoming opponents, the Swabians have not won a Bundesliga match since the beginning of last season. In the 11 games without Karazor, the points average in that period was 0.2 (0-2-9). The points average with Karazor in this period was 1.1 (7-15-10).
He is likely to be replaced by Luca Pfeiffer, who, however, remained without any connection to the VfB game in his only starting appearance so far until his red card in Cologne. Bochum will be visiting an extremely weak away team on Saturday, who have lost all their games away from home so far and have only managed to score three goals in the process. The VfB is now under obligation, excuses no longer count. In addition to the suspended Karazor and Guirassy, the injured Vagnoman and Ito will also be missing on Saturday.
Predicted line-up of VfB Stuttgart:
Müller, Mavropanos, Anton, Zagadou, Führich, Silas, Sosa, Endo, Ahamada, Tomas, Pfeiffer
Last matches played by VfB Stuttgart:
Bundesliga
10/10/2022 – VfB Stuttgart 0 – 1 Union Berlin
01/10/2022 – VfL Wolfsburg 3 – 2 VfB Stuttgart
Friendly club matches
22/09/2022 – VfB Stuttgart 2 – 1 Grasshopper Club
Bundesliga
17/09/2022 – VfB Stuttgart 1 – 3 Eintracht Frankfurt
10/09/2022 – Bayern Munich 2 – 2 VfB Stuttgart
Bochum – Statistics & current form
The often quoted difficult second year after promotion is also experienced by VfL Bochum this season. Buoyed by the euphoria of promotion, Bochum were one of the positive surprises of the past season. Especially in the home games, the VfL presented itself as strong as an ox.
Among others, they defeated FC Bayern 4:2 at home and BVB was also unable to win in Bochum. VfL even won the return match in Dortmund. At the start of the new season, however, there is not much left of the cheeky promoted team from the previous season. The betting providers also see the Bochum side at a disadvantage against their fellow sufferers from Stuttgart, and high odds can be found for an away win for the Ruhr team.
The miserable start to the season has already cost the promotion-winning coach of the previous season, Thomas Reis, his job. Under his successor Letsch, a coaching effect can definitely be seen. Last weekend, Bochum celebrated their long-awaited first win of the season, beating Frankfurt 3-0 to get the frustration of the past weeks off their chest. Under Letsch’s guidance, Bochum have taken four points from their two home games against European Cup contenders Cologne and Frankfurt. Against Leipzig, on the other hand, they went away empty-handed, as expected.
In general, Bochum has not been able to get a leg up on the ground away from home this season. Last season, the team from the Ruhr region lost eleven of its 17 away games. And in this round, all four games in foreign stadiums have been lost so far.
They have only scored three goals of their own and have already conceded eleven. Nevertheless, Letsch should expect something in Stuttgart, because with VfB, an opponent on a par and a direct competitor for relegation is now waiting for VfL. VfL have scored at least one goal of their own in four of their last five matches at the Mercedes-Benz Arena and have taken points in three of those five games.
With four points, Stuttgart have only one point more than VfL on their account and could be overtaken with an away win. Nevertheless, due to the background of the change of coach at the Swabians, we tip VfB Stuttgart against Bochum for a home win. Letsch will also be missing Grave, Osterhage, Mousset and Asano, Stafylidis and Janko. In addition, Goralski is still questionable due to muscular problems; the recovered Stöger could slide into the team in his place.
Predicted line-up of Bochum:
Riemann, Gamboa, Masovic, Ordets, Soares, Losilla, Stöger, Zoller, Förster, Holtmann, Hofmann
Last matches played by Bochum:
Bundesliga
08/10/2022 – VfL Bochum 3 – 0 Eintracht Frankfurt
01/10/2022 – RB Leipzig 4 – 0 VfL Bochum
18/09/2022 – VfL Bochum 1 – 1 1. FC Köln
10/09/2022 – Schalke 04 3 – 1 VfL Bochum
03/09/2022 – VfL Bochum 0 – 2 Werder Bremen
VfB Stuttgart – Bochum Direct comparison / H2H-Balance
The two teams have faced each other 76 times in this traditional duel in various competitions. With 39 victories, the overall balance is clearly in favour of VfB. Bochum have only won 17 matches. 20 duels ended in a draw. The goal difference, 132:91, is also clearly in favour of the Swabians. VfB also won two of the last three matches and drew one.
It has always been close in the last encounters. For the last six games, no team has won by more than one goal difference. In addition, only once in the last ten encounters have more than two goals been scored.
VfB Stuttgart – Bochum Tip
VfB are under a lot of pressure and are the only team in German professional football still without a win. Due to the numerous draws at the beginning of the season, they already have more points on their account than their upcoming opponents, who celebrated their first win of the season last weekend and therefore travel to Stuttgart with self-confidence.
But there are no more alibis for the VfB players. In our VfB Stuttgart vs Bochum prediction, we therefore assume that VfB will finally celebrate their first win of the season. The Bochum side was only half as strong away as at home last season and this trend seems to be continuing seamlessly this year.
Then the question remains whether VfB will break RW Essen’s old negative record. If Bochum score, VfB will be without a clean sheet for the 26th home game in a row. No team in the long history of the Bundesliga has been worse in this respect.
Since Bochum have scored in four of their last five visits to the Neckar, we think they can do it again this time, but at the same time we don’t expect them to keep a clean sheet. The VfL is also the team with the worst defence in the Bundesliga (23 goals conceded).
