Bochum will welcome Stuttgart to the Vonovia Ruhrstadion in the Bundesliga on Saturday. The hosts have won five of their 27 league games and are in 17th place in the standings with 20 points. Die Schwaben have fared a little better with 10 wins and are 11th in the league table with 37 points.
Die Unabsteigbaren have won just one of their last five league outings. They met defending champions Bayer Leverkusen last week and fell to a 3-1 away loss. Felix Passlack had equalized in the 26th minute, just six minutes after Aleix García gave Leverkusen the lead, but the reigning champions scored twice in the second half.
The visitors have endured a poor run of form and are winless in their last six league games. They met Eintracht Frankfurt in their previous outing and suffered a 1-0 away loss. They played RB Leipzig in the DFB-Pokal semifinal on Wednesday and recorded a 3-1 home triumph. Angelo Stiller scored in the first half, while Nick Woltemade and Jamie Leweling added goals after the break.
Die Blauen have suffered back-to-back 3-1 losses and will look to bounce back here. They have lost three of their four Bundesliga home games, failing to score in two. Notably, their last nine wins against the visitors have been registered at home.
Bernardo is back in training and faces a late fitness test. Koji Miyoshi was injured in a friendly last month but should be fit enough to start from the bench here.
Die Roten recorded their first win after six games on Wednesday and will look to continue that form here. They have won just one of their last five Bundesliga away games while suffering two defeats. Nonetheless, they have lost just one of their last 11 games in this fixture.
Ameen Al-Dakhil was red-carded last week and is suspended for the trip to Bochum. Dan-Axel Zagadou, Luca Raimund, and Anrie Chase are nursing injuries, while Ramon Hendriks is a doubt after being absent against Leipzig. Maximilian Mittelstädt and Angelo Stiller are suspended due to the accumulation of yellow cards.
While both teams have been in poor touch recently, the visitors have a better goalscoring record and should be able to eke out a narrow win.
Prediction: Bochum 1-2 Stuttgart
Tip 1: Result - Stuttgart to win
Tip 2: Goals - Over/Under 2.5 Goals - Over 2.5 goals
Tip 3: Both teams to score - Yes
Tip 4: At least a goal to be scored in the second half - Yes