Bochum vs Stuttgart: A tight encounter but Bochum to prevail

On Sunday 9th April, Bochum hosts Stuttgart in a relegation six-pointer at the Vonovia Ruhrstadion in round 27 of the German Bundesliga. The visitors advanced to the DFB Pokal semi-finals last time out and will try to improve on that achievement. Stuttgart collected only one point from their past five games, dropping them to the bottom of the league, while Bochum is undefeated in the last three games played.

Bochum came to Eintracht Frankfurt last Friday evening with plenty of optimism after beating FC Koln and RB Leipzig in their previous two games to climb out of the relegation zone. Although Bochum could not make it three wins in three games played, a draw was a good point to gain against the high-flying Eintracht Frankfurt. 

Bochum is 14th in the Bundesliga league, four points ahead of Hertha Berlin in the relegation playoff zone, with 26 points from 26 games. Stuttgart defeated Nurnberg 1-0 in the DFB Pokal quarter-finals on Wednesday. Stuttgart will now focus on the Bundesliga, where they are winless in five games and have only one point from a possible 15 since February's 3-0 triumph against Koln. Stuttgart is anchored at the bottom of the league table, five points from safety, with 20 points from 26 games.

Based on the form (home and away) of both teams, Bochum is the favourite to win the game. 

Bochum came to Eintracht Frankfurt last Friday evening with plenty of optimism after beating FC Koln and RB Leipzig in their previous two matches to climb out of the relegation zone. Although they didn't get all three points, the Bochum coach would be pleased with his team's performance in the draw against Eintracht Frankfurt.

With only 27% ball possession and two shot on target, Bochum held on to gain a valuable point as last season's Europa League champions converted only one of their 18 open-play shots.

Losing their first six games of the season which led to the sacking of Thomas Reis in September put a lot of pressure on Bochum to win matches to guarantee their Bundesliga survival. Very few people would have given Bochum much of a chance of surviving this season, so four points clear of danger with eight games remaining is already a significant accomplishment.

Bochum will be wary of resting on their laurels, as the primary task of avoiding relegation is far from over. Hence, Sunday's encounter against Stuttgart at Vonovia-Ruhrstadion is a fantastic opportunity to put a significant gap between themselves and the bottom-of-the-table clubs

Bochum's possible starting lineup:

Goalkeeper: Riemann

Defenders: Stafylidis, Ordets, Masovic, Soares

Midfielders: Stoger, Losilla, Osterhage 

Strkers: Asano, Hofmann, Antwi-Adjei.

Loss at Bochum would leave Stuttgart nine points behind their opponents, a gap that would almost probably be too large to repair at this stage of the season. While Schalke 04, Hertha Berlin, and Hoffenheim may still be catchable for Stuttgart regardless of their performance on Sunday, Stuttgart must improve their form sooner rather than later if they are to remain in the Bundesliga.

The club's management moved fast to oust Bruno Labbadia following their crushing 3-0 defeat away to Union Berlin last weekend, with the 57-year-old's second tenure at the club ending in nothing short of disaster after garnering only six points from 11 league matches. Sebastian Hoeness has taken over as Stuttgart manager, and his new team has already advanced to the DFB-Pokal semi-finals with a 1-0 win away to Nuremberg on Wednesday.

However, Hoeness will be acutely aware that guiding Stuttgart to survival is far more essential than a cup event, with Sunday's trip to Bochum unquestionably a must-not-lose, if not a must-win, game.

VfB Stuttgart's possible starting lineup:

Goalkeeper: Bredlow

Defenders: Mavropanos, Anton, Ito 

Midfielders: Vagnoman, Endo, Karazor, Haraguchi, Sosa

Strikers: Guirassy, Fuhrich

Stuttgart will be seeking to capitalize on their cup success, but they will face a Bochum team that has found its groove in recent weeks. Although Stuttgart has the advantage according to the H2H statistics, their form is worrying. Stuttgart has not won an away match this season but conceded 29 goals while scoring 13 goals in the 13 away matches played. Bochum, however, is on three games without a loss and this has come against high-flying teams such as RB Leipzig, Koln, and Eintracht Frankfurt. We, therefore, expect a low-scoring match with a win for the home side (1-0 or 2-0). We are going for a bold Home win with Under 2.5 goals with over 6 odds. 

Below are the expert's bets to consider. 

• W1 and Under 2.5 goals for 6.05 odds (1xbet);
• BTTS No for 1.962 odds (Coinplay);
• Under 2.5 goals for 1.80 odds (bet365)