Looking back
Last season, the two teams shared the points in both matches, 1-1 in Stuttgart and 0-0 in Bochum.
Young against old
VfB have used 23 players to date with an average age of 24 – the youngest in the Bundesliga. Bochum, meanwhile, are at the other end of the scale, having also used 23 players but with an average age of 29.1 – the oldest in Germany’s top flight.
Squad news
VfB will have to do without two suspended players: Atakan Karazor (five bookings) and Serhou Guirassy (sent off for two yellow cards against Union Berlin).
Familiar faces
Philipp Förster moved from VfB to VfL Bochum ahead of this season. The 27-year-old rose through the youth teams in Cannstatt and then played for the first team between September 2019 and June 2022. This term he has made six appearances for VfL and scored one goal, which came in the most recent match against Frankfurt, when Bochum got their first win of the season (3-0). He also set up his team’s two other goals in that match. Kevin Stöger and Simon Zoller also have Stuttgart links, having featured for the club’s youth teams. Takuma Asano, who played for VfB between 2016 and 2018, is currently injured.
Goals on the cards
There has been an average of 3.58 goals per game in VfB's Bundesliga assignments at home to Bochum to date.
