Bochum vs Schalke prediction: GERMANY: Bundesliga betting tips on match 2023-03-03 14:30.
Bochum and Schalke, the Bundesliga’s two bottom sides, may feel that winning this relegation six-pointer could set them on course for survival, but alarm bells are sounding for the hosts, who’ve failed to score in any of their last three league games (L3). They therefore urgently need to stem that tide of poor results if they’re to realise manager Thomas Letsch’s bold January prediction that they would “leave at least two teams behind”.
If they’re not to be left behind themselves, rekindling the form that saw them win five consecutive home league games either side of the World Cup is essential, although that’ll be no easy task against Schalke as they’ve only won one of the last four H2Hs here (D1, L2). Yet Bochum can take encouragement knowing that they’ve not lost here to a side starting this matchday in the bottom half this term (W3, D1).
However, Schalke will likely make things tough for them after their recent 2-1 win over Stuttgart saw them start the second half of a Bundesliga campaign undefeated in five matches (W1, D4) for the first time since 2013/14, a season in which they actually finished third! They’re now within range of third-from-bottom Stuttgart, and a win here would finally lift them off the foot of the table for the first time since late October.
With escaping the bottom three an increasingly realistic target, travelling fans might even envisage seeing their side win a top-flight away game on the road for the first time since November 2019 (D12, L26)! To do so, they need to find a way to breach the opposition’s defence after two consecutive Bundesliga goalless draws at Union Berlin and Borussia Mönchengladbach, respectively.
Players to watch: Philipp Hofmann opened the scoring in Bochum’s last two league wins and scored against Schalke in September (L 3-1). Opening the scoring on that day was Schalke’s Dominick Drexler, who repeated the trick against Stuttgart on Saturday.
Hot stat: Bochum are the only team yet to score a Bundesliga penalty this term.