Bochum vs Stuttgart prediction: GERMANY: Bundesliga betting tips on match 2023-04-08 15:30.
Manager Thomas Letsch claimed earlier in the year that his Bochum side would “leave at least two sides behind” in the race for survival, and that looks to be coming to fruition. A three-game unbeaten run (W2, D1) has lifted them from rock bottom to the relative safety of 14th ahead of the round. That success hasn’t come from free-flowing attacking play, though, instead, each of Bochum’s four scored goals across the last ten hours of play came from set-piece situations.
Returning to the Vonovia Ruhrstadion could stimulate further progress for the hosts, who have won three of their five league games there in 2023, including a shock 1-0 win over Leipzig in their latest home game. Facing relegation-threatened sides hasn’t been so easy for them, however, with Bochum losing all three of their league games against the bottom two sides at the start of the round.
Crisis club Stuttgart parted company with Bruno Labbadia following a comprehensive 3-0 defeat against Union Berlin last time out, despite sporting director Fabian Wohlgemuth giving him the often dreaded vote of confidence only last month. Labbadia leaves the club as the worst-ever Stuttgart boss in terms of points per game in the top flight (0.55 – W1, D3, L7) and five points adrift of safety ahead of the round.
Sebastian HoeneĂź took up the mantle immediately and began his reign in some style by taking Stuttgart to their first DFB Pokal semi-final since 2013 with a 1-0 win over second-tier NĂĽrnberg. Next on his agenda is to end a rotten 23-game winless run of Bundesliga away games (D10, L13), which is just five shy of a miserable club record set back in 1977!
Key battle: Bochum centre-back Erhan Mašović has been their unlikely hero lately, scoring goals in two of their last three games to boost their survival hopes. His primary goal will be to stop the likes of Serhou Guirassy, the Stuttgart forward is not long back from an injury layoff but has scored in four of his last seven appearances, a run which includes three team openers.
Hot stat: No Bundesliga side has ever given away more penalties than Bochum’s current tally of 13 after 26 rounds.