Can Sebastian Hoeneß lead Stuttgart to safety?

By Ben Sully @SullyBen

After beginning his tenure with a quarter-final victory in the DFB-Pokal, Sebastian Hoeneß will take charge of his first league game as Stuttgart boss in Sunday’s away meeting with Bochum.

Bochum

Bochum’s hopes of avoiding the drop have received a boost in recent weeks, with Thomas Letsch’s side picking up seven points from their last three matches.

After recording consecutive victories over Koln and RB Leipzig, Die Unabsteigbaren were looking to claim another win when they travelled to Deutsch Bank Park to face Eintracht Frankfurt last weekend. Takuma Asano opened the scoring for Bochum in the 14th minute, but their lead was cancelled out midway through the first half by a Randal Kolo Muani spot-kick.

As it proved, both sides had to be content with a 1-1 draw, which leaves Bochum four points above the bottom three ahead of Sunday’s contest.

Having lost all five home games this season where they have conceded the opening goal, the hosts will be keen to make a positive start against Stuttgart.

Team News

Bochum reportedly have doubts over the availability of first-choice goalkeeper Manuel Riemann, who left Saturday’s training session with an injury issue. Cristian Gamboa has not featured in a competitive game in 2023 through injury, and he is expected to miss out once again.

Stuttgart

Following a heavy 3-0 defeat against Union Berlin last weekend, the Stuttgart hierarchy made the decision to sack Bruna Labbadia and appoint Sebastian Hoeneß as his replacement.

Hoeneß had little time to prepare for his first game, which was a DFB-Pokal quarter-final against second-tier outfit 1. FC Nürnberg. The contest appeared to be heading towards extra time until Enzo Millot found a winning goal in the 83rd minute to send Stuttgart through to the last four.

After beginning his tenure with a win, Hoeneß will now turn his attention to his first league game as Stuttgart boss. The former Hoffenheim coach has taken over a side that are propping up the Bundesliga table with two points separating them from the relegation playoff position.

Having picked up just one point from their last five league games, Stuttgart will be desperate to claim their first league win since beating FC Koln 2-0 on February 18.

Die Schwaben boast an impressive head-to-head record with Bochum, having won seven and drawn four of their last 11 Bundesliga meetings with Sunday’s opponents.

Team News

Stuttgart have reported no fresh injury concerns ahead of Sunday’s encounter, although Hoeneß has indicated that Serhou Guirassy is still not fit to start.