Vfl Bochum v Vfb Stuttgart
Football : Germnay : Bundesliga
Rewirpower Stadion
Friday, 23rd April 2010 – kickoff 20:30

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Vfl Bochum

Vfl Bochum will fear for their Bundesliga status until the last matchday as they are placed 15th at the table with 28 points, same as FC Nurnberg and SC Freiburg and have one point advantage over Hannover 96 and only due to a better goal difference than their rivals they are above the dropping zone.

Last week they received another blow with the 2-0 away loss against FC Koln, so now they are facing even tougher opponent in a match where they must get something out of and hope that other rival teams from the bottom will drop points.

Vfl Bochum are in a very bad form in the most important part of the season. In the last seven rounds they have lost six times and got only one draw which makes them a serious candidates for dropping out of the league. Last time Vfl Bochum have won a league game was back in February when they had beaten TSG Hoffenheim 2-1 at home.

Coach Heiko Herrlich will have to make several changes in his team because the midfielder and regular starter Christoph Dabrowski got injured and is not able to play (Achilles tendon injury, out for the rest of the season), and what is more worrying is that his replacement Mimoun Azaouagh has broken his hand few weeks ago and that will leave a big gap in the midfield.

Probable Vfl Bochum line-up :
Heerwagen,
Pfertzel, Maltritz, Yahia, Bönig,
Maric, Mavraj, Dedic, Holtby
Sestak, Epallé

Vfb Stuttgart

Vfb Stuttgart are on a great streak with five wins in a row which got them closer to the top teams in their quest for reaching the sixth spot and clinching a European place for next season. At the end of the season Werder Bremen need to be in the top five teams in order for the sixth team to qualify for Europe and at the moment Vfb Stuttgart are four points behind Werder Bremen and two points above Hamburger SV.

They are a team that has scored most goals in the second part of the season - 30 goals and the attackers Cacau and Marica combined have scored 18 goals. Cacau scored twice in the 2-1 home victory last week against Bayer Leverkusen.

The Swiss coach Christian Gross can not count on Pavel Pogrebnyak in this match due to fifth yellow cards suspension and he will be replaced with Cacau in the starting line up. Stefano Celozzi is also out but good news is the return of Aliaksandr Hleb in the starting line up who will take his place at the wing.

Probable Vfb Stuttgart line-up :
Lehmann,
Träsch, Tasci, Delpierre, Molinaro
Khedira, Kuzmanovic, Gebhart, Hleb
Cacau, Marica

The Betting Verdict

First match between these teams ended in 1-1 draw. The overall record is very even as both teams have eleven wins each and nine draws. The last time Vfl Bochum have won against Vfb Stuttgart was back in the season 2004/05 when they beat them 2-0.

This is a very important match for both teams as both teams need a win from opposite reasons.
Vfl Bochum are in a tough relegation battle, but Vfb Stuttgart are in a much better form and plus the tradition is on their side.

I think that this will be a close game, probably decided by a late winner and my opinion is that Vfb Stuttgart are much more experienced team with three great midfielders in the starting line up who can also score – Kuzmanovic, Khedira and Hleb and two great in-form strikers Cacau and Marica.

Vfl Bochum midfield will be a bit loose after the injury of their best midfielder which will open lots of space for Vfb Stuttgart.

At the end i think that Vfb Stuttgart will find their way for the sixth straight victory that will make their dreams for European place alive and that will leave Vfl Bochum in a desperate situation with two matches to go.

The Statistics :

The Pick :

Vfl Bochum 1-2 Vfb Stuttgart

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Take the Away win for Vfb Stuttgart