Bochum vs. Mainz 05 preview: Two winless sides face off
Bochum and Mainz 05 will both be looking to claim their first league win of the season when they go head-to-head on Friday.
Bochum
Bochum have experienced a difficult start to their third consecutive season in the top flight. After drawing three of their opening four matches (L1). Thomas Letsch’s side have experienced a flurry of defeats in recent times. They suffered a demoralising 7-0 loss to Bayern Munich, before they were beaten 3-1 in their home clash with Borussia.
Although they would have taken some confidence from their goalless draw against RB Leipzig, Bochum were unable to build upon that result in last weekend’s meeting with Freiburg. They took the lead through Gonçalo Paciência, but a Ritsu Doan strike and a Vincenzo Grifo penalty gave Freiburg the advantage at the break. Die Unabsteigbaren ultimately failed in their quest to find a second-half equaliser, ensuring they fell to their fourth defeat of the Bundesliga season.
Saturday’s hosts have considerable work to do at both ends of the pitch if they are to start moving up the table. With just six goals to their name, Bochum are the lowest scorer in the top flight, while they have shipped 22 goals in their eight league matches – only Mainz and Darmstadt have conceded more.
Team News
Matus Bero, Michael Esser and Mohammed Tolba are sidelined due to knee injuries. Gonçalo Paciência is also ruled out, while Patrick Osterhage is a doubt for Friday's contest.
Mainz 05
Mainz are currently propping up the Bundesliga table after mustering just two points from their opening eight games. They are also winless in 13 top-flight matches since beating Bayern Munich 3-1 in April.
Bo Svensson’s charges were unable to repeat the feat in last weekend’s home meeting with the Bavarians. Anthony Caci gave his side a semblance of hope when he halved the deficit after Kingsley Coman and Harry Kane had given the German champions a two-goal lead. However, Mainz’s hopes of snatching a draw were quashed by Leon Goretzka, who netted Bayern’s third to condemn Die Nullfünfer to a fifth league defeat of the season.
With Mainz sitting four points adrift from safety, Svensson is under pressure to turn things around in the next few games. The visitors may fancy their chances of claiming their first victory on Friday after recording a league double over Bochum last season.
Team News
The visitors are unable to call upon Nelson Weiper, Andreas Hanche-Olsen and Jonathan Burkardt. Meanwhile, Phillipp Mwene is a doubt due to a knee problem.