TEAM NEWS
Bochum welcomed nine new faces over the summer, three of them – Marco Stiepermann, Johannes Wurtz and Tom Weilandt – from Greuther Furth. Midfielder Russell Canouse and striker Nils Quaschner have joined on loan from Hoffenheim and Leipzig respectively.
Several members of last season’s squad have left, the most notable of which is striker Simon Terrode. The top scorer in the league last season has moved to Stuttgart. Meanwhile, Arvydas Novikovas and Patrick Fabian will miss the first couple of months of the season through injury.
Union Berlin also lost their top scorer as Bobby Wood moved to Bundesliga side Hamburg. Otherwise it has been a relatively quiet summer for the Berliners, with only three other departures and five new signings. Among them is Felix Kroos, who signed a permanent deal following his loan spell last season and has been made the new captain.
Defender Benjamin Kessel is out with a knee injury, while Dennis Daube is still recovering from a hip problem.
Bochum:
Suspended: None
Doubtful: None
Injured/unavailable: Novikovas (rehabilitation), Fabian (knee)
Union Berlin:
Suspended: None
Doubtful: Daube (hip)
Injured/unavailable: Kessel (knee)
MATCH PREVIEW
Bochum’s pre-season preparations ended on a high with a 1-0 victory over Bundesliga outfit Hamburg. In total, Gertjan Verbeek’s side won four of their warm-up matches, alongside defeats to English Championship club Brentford and Belgian side KAS Eupen.
However, Simon Terrode’s goals will certainly be a big loss to Bochum, who finished fifth last season. While his transfer has given Verbeek some funds to reinvest in the squad, the attacker will not be easily replaced.
Like Bochum, Union Berlin may struggle to mount another promotion push this season after losing their main goalscorer Bobby Wood. Saying that, their pre-season friendly results have been positive, with five wins out of seven, and their only defeat came against Premier League side Watford.
These two teams were close to each other in the table last season and I do not think there will be much between them in this encounter, so I am going for a draw.
HEAD TO HEAD
Union Berlin have won half of the 14 meetings between these two, with Bochum winning five and only two ending in draws. Union were 1-0 winners when they last met in April.
Bochum and Union Berlin will play a very balanced match today in 2. Bundesliga Round 1 this Saturday at 12:00. This will be one of the most balanced competition of the day and we expect to see a lot of surprises.
Bochum will start this championship on the 8th place in the standings while their opponents will start from the 2nd place. The last head to head match between the two teams was in April this year, Union Berlin defeat at home their opponents: 1-0.
Union Berlin are undefeated in the last five matches against Bochum.
Bochum comes after a 1-0 victory with Hamburger SV in a friendly match.
Union Berlin are undefeated in seven of their last eight matches in all competition, they are in a tremendous shape after the summer break and will play hard this season to go back in Bundesliga, last round they defeat in a friendly match 3-0 Utrecht.
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Bochum vs Union Berlin
German 2 Bundesliga 2016
Bochum vs Union Berlin Live Stream, Preview and Prediction German 2 Bundesliga 2016
