Table of Contents
Hertha BSC – VfL Bochum
The most exciting phase of the season is coming up for all football fans. In the Bundesliga, it is already going into the 33rd matchday. The last pieces of the barbecue are being handed out and every match is brimming with excitement – including the encounter at Berlin’s Olympiastadion on Saturday afternoon. There, Hertha will receive VfL Bochum. For both teams, the encounter is essential in the fight against relegation. Find out who will secure the three points in the basement thriller this weekend in our Hertha vs Bochum tip.
The hosts from the capital have lost five of their last six Bundesliga games. Now the Berliners face the decisive match in which they need a win to keep their chances of staying in the relegation zone alive. If Hertha do not win on Saturday, relegation would already be perfect this weekend. However, the last time the Alte Dame managed to win the last two games of a Bundesliga season was 24 years ago.
For the visitors from Bochum, however, the match is also of enormous importance in the fight against relegation to the 2nd Bundesliga. The men from Castroper Straße, however, already celebrated an important success against a direct competitor in the previous week. The VfL won 3-2 at home against FC Augsburg, and the win means that Bochum will enter the last two games in fifteenth place. However, the lead over the relegation place is only one point. And the direct relegation places are also only two points away.
Hertha – Bochum info:
- Date & Time: 20.05.2023, 15:30 Uhr
- Game venue: Olympiastadion, Berlin
- Competition: Bundesliga, 33. matchday
- TV broadcast: Sky
Hertha Form & Balance Check
While Union Berlin are on the verge of making it into the Champions League at the Alte Försterei in the east of the city, the situation at Hertha BSC is completely different. The mood is depressed, as the Alte Dame is on the brink of relegation to the second division once again. With only 25 points from 32 games, the capital club is in 18th place in the Bundesliga table.
The gap to the relegation place is already five points before this match. Two wins from the last two games are therefore the absolute minimum for the Berliners to have any chance of staying in the relegation zone. However, the form clearly speaks against the team of coach Pál Dárdai. In the past ten games, Hertha BSC have only won one match.
Defensive surrender
The first players under coach Pál Dárdai Hertha always managed to stand relatively safe defensively. In Munich, the Old Lady remained without conceding a goal for a long time and also against Stuttgart, the defence did not allow many chances.
Against Cologne last Friday, however, things looked completely different. The Hertha defence seemed to be completely overwhelmed. In the end, the Geißböcke fired a total of 31 shots towards and 16 shots on the Berlin goal. In addition, Cologne stood at a total xG value of 4.39 at the final whistle.
Hertha facts & analysis
- Only five points from last ten games.
- Currently 18th in the league
- Five points off relegation place
Bochum Form & Balance Check
Bochum seem to be absolute survivors. Time and again, the team from Castoper Straße slipped into the relegation zone this season. VfL spent a total of 21 match days in one of the last three places in the Bundesliga this season. However, coach Thomas Letsch’s team repeatedly picked up important victories to free themselves from the relegation maelstrom.
This was also the case the previous week, when VfL bagged an important three points against FC Augsburg at home in the Ruhrstadion. Before the last two matchdays, Bochum are in 15th place in the table, one point ahead of Schalke in the relegation places.
Hofmann in the centre
A win on Saturday would accordingly be of enormous importance for the blue and whites. Bochum fans will also be hoping for the goal-scoring prowess of their top striker again in the game at the Olympiastadion. Philipp Hofmann is VfL’s top scorer with eight goals this Bundesliga season.
The 30-year-old will probably have particularly good memories of the Alte Dame from Berlin. Philipp Hofmann scored his first Bundesliga brace in Bochum’s 3-1 win in their previous meeting with the Berliners.
Bochum facts & analysis
- In 17th place in the away table.
- Best defence in the league
- Second worst attack in the league
Predicted lineup – last updated May 18, 2023
We expect the Berliners, as always under Pál Dárdai, to play in a 4-4-2. In Cologne, no fewer than seven Hertha players picked up a yellow card. For Jessic Ngankam, however, it was the fifth of the season, which means that the striker will be missing on Saturday. In addition, Filip Uremovic was injured in the cathedral city and will be out.
VfL Bochum will probably start in a 4-3-3 again. Coach Thomas Letsch will not rotate much in the starting eleven after the win against Augsburg. Konstantinos Stafylidis, however, was injured early in the game against FCA.
Hertha – Bochum direct comparison & statistics
The record of the two teams is completely balanced so far. Both teams won 20 games each. However, the Bochum side only won two of the last 20 games against the Old Lady. In the first leg, however, the men from Castroper Straße won 3:1 against the team from the capital.
- Bochum’s last victory at the Olympiastadion was on 16.09.1995.
- Both teams separated by six points in the league
- Did you know that Hertha BSC score 26% of their goals between the 76-90 minute?
- Bochum have failed to score in 8 of their 16 away games in the Bundesliga this season
