Football | Thursday, April 25, 2024 11:21 AM (Revised at: Friday, April 26, 2024 11:37 AM)

Bochum vs Hoffenheim Prediction: Team News and Lineups Preview

Xinhua / Alamy Stock Photo: Asano Takuma of VfL Bochum celebrates scoring

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We have a massive match to look forward to at Vonovia Ruhrstadion as Jack Wright offers up a Bochum vs Hoffenheim prediction, team news, lineups and fixtures preview in the Bundesliga.

The hosts are frantically trying to escape the relegation zone while this is not the “dead rubber” it might have been for the visitors. Italy and Germany currently have the highest 2023/24 association club coefficients meaning extra places in Europe and Hoffenheim are therefore still in the hunt.

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Bochum vs Hoffenheim Prediction 1: Butscher to carve up Hoff and lift the Blues

Germany, Bundesliga, Friday, April 26th, 19:30 (UK)

After a heartbreaking 2-1 loss to FC Koln at the beginning of the month, which saw them concede twice in added-on time, Bochum fired head coach Thomas Letsch. Rather than look for experienced hands they instead installed Heiko Butscher as interim coach until the end of the season.

The former centre-back who ended his playing days with the club had two previous spells holding the reins both lasting for just one game. In 2018 he oversaw a 2-1 Bundesliga 2 victory over Darmstadt and most recently a 1-1 draw with Cologne in September 2022.

Since then, he has coached the club’s under-19 team, winning 33 of his 67 games in charge whilst seeing his side score 121 goals. I am not unduly put off by the opening two games, which have seen a 1-1 draw at home to Heidenheim and a 1-0 defeat at Wolfsburg.

The underlying numbers appear strong in both fixtures. The Blues had 64% of the ball in that last outing on home soil, firing in 24 shots with an xG of 1.54. At the Wolves they once again had more ball share and although having only nine attempts at goal limited the hosts to just one more and compiled an xG of 1.09.

Despite winning their last two home games Die Kraichgauer are in a terrible run of form on the road. Having lost seven of their last nine league games away from home, and one result in particular really catches the eye.

Their last road trip saw them visit Mainz who at the time were in the relegation zone. The result was a 4-1 thrashing and Bochum will surely draw motivation from the side who now sit one place above them.

The hosts will also take inspiration from this same fixture last season when they raced into a 3-0 lead by half-time before running out 5-2 victors. Coincidentally, the three points were enough to lift Bochum out of the bottom three that day, and they will be looking to repeat the trick here.

Bochum vs Hoffenheim Prediction 1: Bochum to Win (TRACKED BET)
Best Odds: 2.20
Bookmaker: bet365
Stake: 7/10

Bochum vs Hoffenheim Prediction 2: Keven may not Schlott one in but I’m backing him to contribute

Only Bayern Munich league games have seen more goals than Hoffenheim’s 113 so far this term, and there is no reason to assume that will stop here. With an attack-minded coach at the helm, a desperation for three points, and the likelihood that Hoffenheim will score, it is a fair assumption that Bochum will need to score at least twice to claim a crucial win.

Four of their five wins this term have seen them score multiple times, including their last victory, a shock 3-2 defeat of Bayern Munich in February.

With odds for the home side to score at least twice a fraction short to have here as a single, I have found what looks like a lovely boost.

Keven Schlotterbeck has found his shooting boots at the back end of the season. The 26-year-old defender scored both goals in that aforementioned 1-1 draw with Heidenheim, with the one at the right end being his fourth goal of the campaign and doubling his previous best tally.

The Freiburg loanee has fired a career-high 19 shots this term from his 23 appearances, with 15 coming in his last nine games and at least one attempt at goal in eight of those.

Bochum vs Hoffenheim Prediction 2: Over 1 Bochum Goal and Keven Schlotterbeck Over 0.5 Shots
Best Odds: 1.95
Bookmaker: bet365
Stake: 7/10

Bochum vs Hoffenheim Prediction 3: Asano to Tak aim

Takuma Asano is having his most prosperous season in front of goal since becoming a familiar face in Germany following his loan from Arsenal in 2016. Having had spells with Stuttgart and Hannover, where he scored a combined five goals across three campaigns, the 29-year-old is now in his third season with Bochum.

After hitting the back of the net three times in each of his first two seasons with the Blues, Asano has matched that combined total from in his 26 Bundesliga appearances this term. While arguably his most remembered strike of the season came on the international stage in a 4-1 defeat of Germany which saw the end of Hansi Flick’s time in charge of Die Mannschaft.

The Japanese international’s versatility in being able to play anywhere across the front line or on either side of midfield makes him a valuable asset for any coach. While his hard-working style, determination and knack of being in the right place at the right time have made him a firm fan favourite.

In his last appearance at Vonovia Ruhrstadion he registered a season high seven attempts at goal with one on target. Against Wolfsburg his two shots and one on target meant this bet landed for the fifth time in his last six outings.

Bochum vs Hoffenheim Prediction 3: Takuma Asano Over 2.5 Shots and Over 0.5 Shots on Target. (TRACKED BET)
Best Odds: 1.80
Bookmaker: bet365
Stake: 7/10

Bochum vs Hoffenheim Prediction odds via bet365 as at 00:30, April 23rd, 2024. Odds may now differ.

Bochum vs Hoffenheim Team News and Possible Lineups: Time to freshen things up for Bochum’s new boss?

After naming an unchanged side in his last match Heiko Butscher will be forced into at least two changes for the visit of Hoffenheim. Both Christopher Antwi-Adjei and Patrick Osterhage picked up their fifth cautions of the season and will sit this one out through suspension.

The visitors must do without long term absentees Mergim Berisha and Marco John but may be boosted with one or both of Dennis Geiger and Stanley Nsoki being fit enough to play some part.

Bochum possible starting lineup:
Riemann; Bernardo, Schlotterbeck, Masovic, Passlack; Forster, Losilla; Asano, Stoger, Bero; Hofmann

Hoffenheim possible starting lineup:
Baumann; Grillitsch, Kabak, Drexler, Skov; Promel, Kramaric, Tohumcu; Kaderabek, Beier, Weghorst

The Predicted Bochum vs Hoffenheim Bundesliga Standings by BETSiE

Our in-house predictive model, BETSiE, has had a go at predicting the Bundesliga standings ahead of the Bochum vs Hoffenheim, currently 16th vs 9th, fixture by utilising the underlying data from the 2023/24 season up until this point.

For more league-specific BETSiE content including standings, probabilities and predictions, visit her page here – it’s worth it.

Bochum vs Hoffenheim Standings Prediction

Position	Club	Game	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Bayer Leverkusen	34	25.9	6.1	1.9	82.5	26.9	55.6	83.9
2	Bayern Munich	34	25.2	3.6	5.2	92.7	35.5	57.2	79.2
3	Stuttgart	34	20.7	4.2	9.1	74.0	44.0	30.0	66.3
4	RB Leipzig	34	18.7	6.2	9.1	72.4	41.7	30.8	62.4
5	Dortmund	34	16.0	10.2	7.8	66.9	47.5	19.3	58.3
6	Eintracht Frankfurt	34	11.6	12.4	10.1	51.2	49.4	1.8	47.1
7	Freiburg	34	12.2	7.5	14.3	46.7	58.9	-12.2	44.2
8	Hoffenheim	34	11.7	8.3	14.0	57.6	63.1	-5.5	43.4
9	Werder Bremen	34	11.1	8.5	14.5	45.5	54.4	-8.8	41.7
10	Augsburg	34	9.8	10.4	13.8	48.6	59.5	-10.9	39.7
11	B. Monchengladbach	34	10.1	9.5	14.5	58.0	63.1	-5.1	39.6
12	Wolfsburg	34	9.8	9.4	14.8	42.4	53.4	-11.0	38.8
13	Heidenheim	34	9.8	9.3	14.9	46.3	61.7	-15.4	38.6
14	Union Berlin	34	10.6	6.5	16.8	37.7	54.5	-16.9	38.5
15	Bochum	34	8.6	12.4	13.0	43.7	64.9	-21.2	38.2
16	Mainz	34	6.3	11.6	16.1	32.9	51.7	-18.8	30.6
17	FC Koln	34	5.7	10.3	18.0	28.7	58.6	-29.8	27.5
18	Darmstadt	34	4.3	9.2	20.5	35.6	74.6	-39.0	22.1

Match Stats: Bochum masters of their own downfall

Bochum have scored the most own goals in Bundesliga this season with four
Hoffenheim have a 100% record from the spot this term scoring all six of their penalties with only Freiburg having scored more (7)
With 74% Bochum has the lowest pass accuracy from open play this season
Bochum have won the most duels in the division with 3215
The Blues have also won the most aerial duels with 860 – that is a massive 123 more than their nearest rival.
The referee could be kept busy with Hoffenheim ranking fourth for yellow cards collected (73) however that is 19 fewer than Bochum who have seen more cautions than any other side in the German topflight this term.

Bochum Fixtures: Survival may depend on being first side to defeat champions.

Vs Union Berlin (A)
Vs Leverkusen (H)
Vs Bremen (A)

Hoffenheim Fixtures: Two Champions League qualifiers lay in wait

Vs RB Leipzig (H)
Vs Darmstadt (A)
Vs Bayern Munich (H)

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