Our next opponents: Problems up front for Bochum

Position

Under Thomas Reis, head coach since October 2019, VfL Bochum celebrated their long-awaited return to the Bundesliga on matchday 34 in last season's second division campaign. The Blue and Whites had been in the lowest professional division for eleven years. Accordingly, there was great celebration at Bochum with avoiding relegation the target set for the current season. However, the start of this mission could certainly have gone better for captain Anthony Losilla and Co. VfL only managed to pick up points in the first seven matches with a 2-0 win against Mainz 05 and a goalless draw with VfB Stuttgart. There were five defeats against VfL Wolfsburg (0-1), FC Köln (1-2), Hertha Berlin (1-3), Bayern Munich (0-7) and RB Leipzig (0-3).

Bochum have now made up ground again in Germany's top flight: The Reis team secured a 1-0 win away to fellow newcomers Greuther Fürth on matchday eight and that was followed by a 2-0 victory against Eintracht Frankfurt and progress in the second round of the DFB Cup against FC Augsburg (5-4 on penalties). After a narrow 2-1 defeat at Borussia Mönchengladbach on the following Bundesliga matchday, the team from Castroper Straße showed a strong response with a 2-0 win at home to TSG Hoffenheim. The team currently lying twelfth in the table can certainly be satisfied with 13 points from 11 games.

Personnel

Thomas Reis has a number of injury worries ahead of the clash with the Werkself. Leading the way is the absence of striker Simon Zoller (involved in four goals in the first four matches) due to a torn cruciate, which will lead to him being sorely missed for a long time. And now the Bochum coach is running out of wingers: Gerrit Holtmann, who has one goal and two assists so far this season, underwent a groin operation and will definitely be sidelined. Danny Blum will also miss the match at the BayArena as he has been unable to train again since an injury in the Hoffenheim match. After scoring two goals against Gladbach and Frankfurt, the 30-year-old will definitely be missed. There is a question mark over Takuma Asano. The Japan international only returned on Thursday and will probably start on the bench.

That begs the question who the VfL coach will field on Saturday. A candidate for the starting line-up is Christopher Antwi-Adjei. The 27-year-old has made ten appearances this season and is currently the only fit winger in the Blue and White squad. Reis also has two other options available in Herbert Bockhorn and Silvera Ganvoula. Bockhorn is primarily a full-back but he has helped out in that position in the past. Centre forward Ganvoula likes to play on the flanks and he played 45 minutes on the wing in the friendly against Viktoria Köln (2-2) during the international break.

Performers

The main aim against the Werkself on Saturday is to avoid going behind. The reason for that is of a statistical nature: Whenever VfL have taken the lead in the current Bundesliga season, they have always ended the match as winners (four times). Bochum have only suffered one defeat at the Vonovia Ruhrstadion – on matchday four against Hertha Berlin (1-3). The Reis team have collected a total of ten points from the other four matches on their own turf. VfL Bochum are currently tenth in the home form table.

Problems

Bayer 04 have had 132 attempts on goal in the current Bundesliga season and have scored 24 goals; VfL Bochum have had six shots less (126) – but have ‘only’ scored ten goals. The Blue and Whites have the third worst conversion rate in the league. In addition, the team from the Ruhr Valley have struggled on the road. Losilla and Co. have lost five of their six away games – with VfL only picking up points against bottom of the table Fürth (1-0). Only Köln (2 points), Augsburg (2) and Fürth (0) have a worse record.

Prediction

VfL Bochum are currently struggling with injury problems. In Simon Zoller (torn cruciate), the Blue and Whites are missing an absolute key player at the centre of their attack. However, during the summer transfer window, the newcomers strengthened their squad with some shrewd changes in personnel to enable them to compete in the Bundesliga. After problems at the start, the team under head coach Thomas Reis have now found their feet in Germany's top flight. Given the problems up front, players will have to step in after not having regularly played before. Even though the current form is going in the right direction, VfL will probably have to battle to stay up right to the end of the season.