Stuttgart vs. Bochum preview: Who can get off to a winning start?
Stuttgart and Bochum will both be looking to claim maximum points when they go head-to-head on the opening weekend of the Bundesliga season.
Stuttgart
Stuttgart are set to participate in their fourth consecutive Bundesliga campaign after they beat Hamburg 6-1 in the relegation/promotion playoff to guarantee their top-flight status for another campaign.
After being appointed in April, Sebastian Hoeneß began his first full campaign as Stuttgart boss with a comfortable victory over fourth-tier side TSG Balingen in the first round of the DFB-Pokal. Enzo Millot, Silas, Serhou Guirassy and Wataru Endo all got on the scoresheet last weekend to guide Stuttgart to a 4-0 victory.
Endo has since departed the Mercedes-Benz Arena and joined Liverpool in a €19m deal. While Endo’s exit will come as a blow, Stuttgart have made a number of additions, including Jeong Woo-yeong, Maximilian Mittelstädt, Deniz Undav and Alexander Nübel.
Having avoided defeat in their last eight meetings with Bochum, Stuttgart will be confident of picking up a positive result on Saturday.
Team News
Nikolas Nartey, Josha Vagnoman and Undav are ruled out through injury, while there are doubts surrounding the availability of Fabian Bredlow, Thomas Kastanaras and Maximilian Mittelstädt.
Konstantinos Mavropanos, who is also sidelined, is believed to be close to completing a move to West Ham United.
Bochum
After finishing two points clear of safety last term, Bochum will be bracing themselves for another relegation battle, as they finalise their preparations for their third successive season in the top flight.
While Gerrit Holtmann and Jannes Horn headed through the exit door, Thomas Letsch has strengthened his side with the additions of Maximilian Wittek, Bernardo, Matus Bero, Moritz Kwarteng, Felix Passlack and Luke Daschner.
Bochum began their 2023-24 campaign with an away trip to the Schüco Arena last weekend for a meeting with Arminia Bielefeld in the first round of the Pokal. Letsch's side managed to claw their way back from two goals down thanks to strikes from Takuma Asano and Simon Zoller. However, with no side able to find a winner in extra time, the tie was decided by penalties, where Bochum missed two of their three spot-kicks, ensuring their participation in the cup came to a premature end.
They will look to bounce back on Saturday, as they bid to claim their first victory over Stuttgart since winning 2-0 in the Pokal in August 2014.
Team News
Bochum are expected to be without the services of Bero, Kwarteng, Tim Oermann, and Mohammed Tolba.