Pre-match facts: VfL Bochum vs. VfB

Record against Bochum

Overall: 77 games. 40 wins, 20 draws, 17 defeats. 136:92 goal difference.

Looking back

Since Bochum’s return to the Bundesliga in 2021, there have been two draws and a win for VfB in meetings between the two sides. Stuttgart registered their first win of this season in the reverse fixture, with Silas (2), Naouirou Ahamada and Wataru Endo on the scoresheet in a 4-1 success.

Reunions

There are no fewer than four ex-VfB players in the Bochum squad in Takuma Asano (17 Bundesliga appearances in 2022/23), Philipp Förster (20), Kevin Stöger (25) and Simon Zoller (20). All four have found the net this season, with Zoller scoring three goals and the other three posting two goals each.

Goals

There have been exactly 200 goals in the 67 previous Bundesliga encounters between the two teams – equivalent to an average of 2.99 per game. The most goals in a single match came in the home fixtures in the 1982/83 and 2004/05 campaigns, with VfB winning 5-2 both times.

Debut

Sebastian Hoeneß will stand on the touchline as VfB head coach in the Bundesliga for the first time at the Ruhrstadion. He made his debut for VfB, a club he played for as a youngster, on Wednesday at Nürnberg in the DFB Cup. The 40-year-old oversaw 68 top-flight matches in his previous job for TSG Hoffenheim.