Soccer Germany Bundesliga Prediction

B. Monchengladbach vs Wolfsburg - Match Preview

⚽ 9 April 2023 - 13:30 GMT +0

Sunday’s triple header of Bundesliga action begins at Borussia-Park where mid-table Borussia Mönchengladbach look to end a rotten five-game winless run (D3, L2), four of which saw them fail to score. That streak was extended by a drab goalless draw in the Rhine derby last round, sealing their longest winless league run under Daniel Farke’s leadership in the process.

A home return could be just the tonic to stimulate a Gladbach resurgence as they’ve lost just one of their last seven games here (W3, D3, L1). The Foals are currently enjoying their longest-ever unbeaten run of top-flight H2Hs against Wolfsburg (W2, D4) and may fancy their chances as a result. However, with no realistic prospect of a European finish or relegation, Gladbach’s season is at risk of fizzling into obscurity with just eight games to go.

Just one place separates these sides in the standings, but with a seven-point gap ahead of their hosts, Wolfsburg’s European prospects look much brighter. The Wolves have put together an impressive five-game unbeaten run (W2, D3) and with each of those draws being earned from losing positions, one can hardly fault the fighting spirit of Niko Kovač’s men.

Playing away from home has rarely slowed Wolfsburg’s progress, with the visitors picking up more points than all clubs bar Bayern and Dortmund ahead of the round (W6, D3, L4). That impressive travelling record has been built on solid defensive foundations; Wolfsburg have conceded a league-low 12 away goals and they could even set a new club record of away Bundesliga clean sheets with what would be a fourth in succession here.

📋 Players to watch: Gladbach’s Marcus Thuram has scored his last five goals at home, including three match-winners, with his last away goals being a brace at Wolfsburg! As for the visitors, Maximilian Arnold became the first player since 2000, and only the third in Bundesliga history, to miss a penalty and score an own goal in a game last weekend, although he made up for it with a second-half assist.

⚡ Hot stat: Only Bayern Munich has scored in both halves in more Bundesliga games than Wolfsburg’s 13 this season (50%).

Bochum vs Stuttgart - Match Preview

⚽ 9 April 2023 - 15:30 GMT +0

Manager Thomas Letsch claimed earlier in the year that his Bochum side would “leave at least two sides behind” in the race for survival, and that looks to be coming to fruition. A three-game unbeaten run (W2, D1) has lifted them from rock bottom to the relative safety of 14th ahead of the round. That success hasn’t come from free-flowing attacking play, though, instead, each of Bochum’s four scored goals across the last ten hours of play came from set-piece situations.

Returning to the Vonovia Ruhrstadion could stimulate further progress for the hosts, who have won three of their five league games there in 2023, including a shock 1-0 win over Leipzig in their latest home game. Facing relegation-threatened sides hasn’t been so easy for them, however, with Bochum losing all three of their league games against the bottom two sides at the start of the round.

Crisis club Stuttgart parted company with Bruno Labbadia following a comprehensive 3-0 defeat against Union Berlin last time out, despite sporting director Fabian Wohlgemuth giving him the often dreaded vote of confidence only last month. Labbadia leaves the club as the worst-ever Stuttgart boss in terms of points per game in the top flight (0.55 - W1, D3, L7) and five points adrift of safety ahead of the round.

Sebastian Hoeneß took up the mantle immediately and began his reign in some style by taking Stuttgart to their first DFB Pokal semi-final since 2013 with a 1-0 win over second-tier Nürnberg. Next on his agenda is to end a rotten 23-game winless run of Bundesliga away games (D10, L13), which is just five shies of a miserable club record set back in 1977!

📋 Key battle: Bochum centre-back Erhan Mašović has been their unlikely hero lately, scoring goals in two of their last three games to boost their survival hopes. His primary goal will be to stop the likes of Serhou Guirassy, the Stuttgart forward is not long back from an injury layoff but has scored in four of his last seven appearances, a run which includes three team openers.

⚡ Hot stat: No Bundesliga side has ever given away more penalties than Bochum’s current tally of 13 after 26 rounds.

Hoffenheim vs Schalke - Match Preview

⚽ 9 April 2023 - 17:30 GMT +0

Back-to-back wins may have hauled Hoffenheim out of the relegation zone, but Pellegrino Matarazzo is warning the squad that their hard work must continue to ensure they stay up. After losing his first five games in charge, the new manager has guided his side to recent victories over Hertha Berlin and Werder Bremen, boosting their hopes of remaining in the Bundesliga next season.

The stakes could therefore barely be higher as fellow strugglers Schalke, just four points below the Blues in the table, visit the PreZero Arena. Matarazzo admitted this game is “very important” in his side’s quest for safety, and he will be desperate to improve on a wretched run of seven defeats from their last nine home league outings (W1, D1), during which time they have conceded 20 goals.

Hoffenheim might be confident of turning that form around against the Royal Blues, who have lost seven of the last 12 meetings between these two sides (W2, D3). That may be a bad omen for Thomas Reis’ Schalke side, who are looking to bounce back from a 3-0 hammering at the hands of Bayer Leverkusen last time out which ended an eight-match unbeaten run.

Such form has led defender Leo Greiml to declare he is “confident” they will “stay up”, but with six of those eight matches finishing all square (W2), Schalke have failed to pull clear of danger. Indeed, they are now back in the bottom three and facing a potential fifth relegation of the Bundesliga era, and they must surely improve a horrific away record of one top-flight win in 40 attempts since November 2019 (D13, L26) if they are going to avoid the drop.

📋 Key battle: Hoffenheim defender Kevin Vogt has only lost once in eight home H2Hs with Schalke (W5, D2), helping his side keep a clean sheet in half of those games. He will be hoping to get the better of visiting forward Marius Bülter, who after netting four times in his last five outings, is looking to break his goalscoring duck against the Blues (W1, D1, L3).

⚡ Hot stat: Schalke have not lost any of the five league games in which they have scored first this season (W4, D1), but have also failed to win a single match when conceding the opening goal (D3, L13).