20:03
Hertha won the first leg in Bochum 3-1, but Serdar, who scored twice, is only on the bench today. All in all, one could even speak of Bochum as a favorite opponent for the old lady, because Berlin has won the last five duels – four of them 2-0. The last VfL victory dates back to 2009.
20:00
It is also exciting to look at the newcomers after the end of the winter transfer window. Hertha strengthened four new players: Bjørkan, Lee, Nsonga and Kempf, who is even in the starting XI today, joined the old lady. At least Bjørkan and Lee are on the bench, Nsonga is still recovering from a cruciate ligament rupture. Bochum only registered one winter signing: striker Locadilla made his starting eleven debut against Cologne.
19:56
Bochum recently celebrated reaching the quarter-finals of the DFB Cup and is doing quite well in the league as a promoted team. So far, things have always been up and down with the guests, a defeat was usually followed by a response in the form of a win, or vice versa. In general, the motto at VfL was “all or nothing” – the draw against Cologne was only the third draw of the current season. The big weakness of Thomas Reis’ team is the foreign country: Bochum only got six points in foreign stadiums, only Greuther Fürth, bottom of the table, is even worse with one point.
19:52
The defeat against Bayern was the fourth game in a row without a win for the Berliners (3 defeats, 1 draw) – in each of the three defeats they conceded three goals or more. One of the biggest construction sites in the Hertha team. The Old Lady’s defense is historically poor, the last time they conceded 42 goals after 20 matchdays was in the 1963/64 season. After all, it worked a little better in their own stadium, where the opponent “only” scored 16 goals. They also suffered four defeats in the Olympic Stadium, but always against a team that was ahead of Hertha in the table – Bochum is two places higher.
19:48
At VfL, after the 2-2 win against 1. FC Köln, coach Thomas Reis made three starting XI changes today: Gamboa, Tesche and Asano start for Stafylidis (bank) and Löwen and Losilla, both of whom are out with corona disease.
19:45
Tayfun Korkut changes his starting XI to five positions compared to the 4-1 loss against FC Bayern Munich. New signing Kempf can play right from the start, Stark, Ascacibar, Ekkelenkamp and Jovetić are also in the starting XI. Boyata and Dardai are both injured, Gechter and Serdar are on the bench and Tousart is absent for personal reasons.
19:36
Only two points separate the two teams before tonight, with newly promoted Bochum even two places ahead of the capital city. Today’s winner can also free himself a little from the relegation worries, because the FCA on the relegation rank is only three or five points behind.
Hello and good evening to the 21st match day of the Bundesliga. After a two-week break, the top German division is back and Hertha BSC and VfL Bochum will kick off at 8:30 p.m.