On Sunday, 23.10.2022, the 1. FC Union Berlin team will travel to the Vonovia Ruhrstadion to face VfL Bochum for their eleventh Bundesliga game of the Bundesliga season. Kick off is at 15:30. Urs Fischer's team have had just three days to recover and prepare for their next opponents after the 2-0 home win against Heidenheim in the DFB Pokal.

The opponents

Bochum, who hail from from North Rhine-Westphalia, are currently bottom of the Bundesliga, two points behind Schalke 04. While there has not been much joy on the road for VfL this season - all five away games have been lost - they have at least picked up their four points from the last two home games. There was the encouraging 1-1 draw against 1. FC Köln, followed by a superb 3-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt last weekend.

Like Union, VfL were however also successful during the week, winning 1-0 against thie 3. Liga's SV Elversberg. Their head-coach, Thomas Letsch, has only been on the Bochum sidelines for just over a month. His predecessor, Thomas Reis, was dismissed after more than 1,100 days in charge, including both a Bundesliga promotion and relegation in the last two years, after a somewhat miserable start to the current season.

Bochum had been active in the transfer market in the summer, with the signing of Philipp Förster and Philipp Hofmann up front particularly noteworthy. Hofmann's signing seems to have been the best of the lot, with three goals and three assists so far this season. But they were certainly weakened by the loss of recent German international Armel Bella-Kotchap. The centre-back moved to FC Southampton in the English Premier League during the summer.

The head to head

The two clubs have crossed paths 23 times, mostly in the 2. Liga. Union have won 13 of these, VfL have won seven. There have been three draws, interestingly enough all of them in Bochum. Union won both Bundesliga fixtures last season, 1-0 at the Ruhrstadion and 3:2 at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei.

The reunions

There will be plenty paths re-corssed on Sunday, as the hosts will renew acquaintance with two former players in Janik Haberer and Milos Pantovic. Haberer was on loan from TSG Hoffenheim in 2015/16, whereas Pantovic left Bochum for Berlin after four seasons and 100 competitive games. Central defender Dominique Heintz, currently on loan at Castroper Straße, went the other way in the summer.

The personnel

Urs Fischer has the whole squad at his disposal on Sunday. 

The coaches' views ahead of the game.

"Bochum also had a difficult game in the cup during the week. In the league, the result against Stuttgart belies the performance a bit, it was actually pretty even," said Union's head coach Fischer.

"The win against Frankfurt before that was also a strong indication that we have to go to our limits, as always. There are no easy games any more, and the standings don't matter. So we have to expect an intense match that we have to approach with full seriousness." 

VfL coach Letsch praised Union in, if cautiously: "Union are the yardstick we have to play by, and not only when you see the table. They play clear and simple football, where everyone knows what to do. They don't concede much and are also effective up front. They present a big challenge."

Service info

1. FC Union Berlin expect a good 1,800 fans to travel to the game from Berlin on Sunday, for whom all the relevant information is available here, including a fan letter from the Bochum police. There will still be a few seated tickets available at the gate.

The match will be broadcast live on DAZN. As usual, Union will also provide information on the match in its own live ticker, as well as in English on Twitter.