Hoffenheim vs VFL Bochum Prediction: More home discomforts for Matarazzo

The PreZero Arena is the venue for this week's Friday night Bundesliga offering, as Hoffenheim host a resurgent VFL Bochum side.

It looked like being a long season for the visitors after they went the first nine matchdays without a win, but they are now unbeaten in their last five - winning two of them - and are up to 12th.

Conversely, Hoffenheim have taken just two points from their last four matches, though they are still sat in the sixth and final European qualification spot under American head coach Pellegrino Matarazzo.

Team News

Former Liverpool loanee Ozan Kabak is a doubt for Friday with a bruised hip, while Mergim Berisha, Dennis Geiger and Bambase Conte continue to miss out for Hoffenheim through injury.

The hosts also have Kevin Akpoguma suspended, but Grischa Promel will return after serving a ban of his own against Borussia Monchengladbach.

Disciplinary issues are also haunting Bochum, who will be without Keven Schlotterbeck due to an accumulation of yellow cards. Mohammed Talba and Mats Pannewig are also out but will return to team training next week.

Bochum boss Thomas Letsch confirmed earlier on Thursday that Maxi Wittek will start at left-back, with Bernardo moved to the middle.

Match Odds

Hoffenheim are fancied at 8/13 to snap out of their winless run and claim all three points on Friday, while a victory for the visitors can be found at 4/1. The draw is available at 16/5 and it's 8/15 for both teams to score.

Draw or VFL Bochum @ 5/4

No Bundesliga team has accrued more points away from home than Hoffenheim (16) this season, but no side has picked up fewer at home (four). Their only win at the PreZero Arena this term was against Wolfsburg on September 2 and they have lost three of their last four there, conceding three in each of those defeats.

Bochum, meanwhile, have taken four points from the last two on their travels, and they recovered from a 7-0 hammering at Bayern Munich in September to draw 0-0 with RB Leipzig in their next away game.

Slow starts have been a killer for Hoffenheim as they have conceded first in their last four, and that's good news for Bochum who have scored the first goal of the game in five of their last six (the other finished 0-0).

Considering the respective records of these sides, I'm happy to back Bochum's unbeaten run to continue.

Wout Weghorst to score anytime @ 7/5

The Dutch striker became a figure of ridicule in England for his poor goalscoring record at Burnley and Manchester United, but observers in the Netherlands, Germany and, briefly, Turkey, know that his unhappy spell in the Premier League doesn't define him elsewhere.

He made a slow start to his Hoffenheim career but Weghorst has now scored in four of his last six Bundesliga outings, including one last time out at Monchengladbach. The 31-year-old has also found the net three times for his country this term, so he should be in confident mood coming into this one.

His strike partner at Hoffenheim, Maximilian Beier, hasn't scored in his last six, while the club's all-time record goalscorer, Andrej Kramaric, is on a four-game barren run himself at club level, not helped by only starting one of those. The goalscoring onus is well and truly on Weghorst at the moment, and he looks to be shouldering that responsibility well.

Despite their recent turnaround, Bochum have only kept one clean sheet in their last six games, and they have shipped 17 goals on the road this season. Weghorst should be backing himself to make it five in seven on Friday.

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