Hamburg V Bochum
Friday 16th August 2019 – 17:30 Kick-Off
German Bundesliga 2
Pick: Both Teams to Score
Odds: 4/5
Bookmaker: PaddyPower
 |
1 | X | 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1/2 | 16/5 | 49/10 |
* (All betting odds displayed were correct as of August 13th 2019 at 13:10)
Preview: We are at matchday three in the German Bundesliga 2 and it brings together two teams that produced a pair of goalless draws on both occasions in which they clashed last season, with Hamburg again welcoming Bochum to their Volksparkstadion. Surely we can expect at least a goal or two this time around?
German Bundesliga 2 Betting with 22Bet
Hamburg Preview – Lack of recent home form makes for unappealing hosts?
Many anticipated that Hamburg would bounce straight back up after their demotion from the Bundesliga at the end of 2017/18, when they were relegated from the top league of German football for the first time in the league’s 55-year existence. Unfortunately, some hopeless form towards the end of the last season scuppered all their early work and meant another year would be spent in the second tier for one of the country’s most iconic clubs.
The good news is Hamburg have made a bright start to this new campaign. Drawing their opening fixture 1-1 at home to Darmstadt would have been a little disappointing, but Die Rothosen responded emphatically, by thumping a freshly relegated Nurnberg 4-0 on the road. Moreover, there was successful progression in the DFB Pokal, although that was technically a second draw of the season after only managing a 2-2 scoreline in normal time before prevailing on penalties.
So a mixed bag in some ways. Plenty of goals scored, though. However you decide to view their first few games, it is a significant improvement on the form displayed towards the tail end of last season, when a dire spell of results subsequently cost them promotion. No win in seven league games (D3 L4) preceded their 3-0 win over Duisburg on the final matchday to leave the club one point shy of the promotion play-off position.
Hamburg kept nine clean sheets in their seventeen league games staged at the Volksparkstadion in 2018/19, with six of their eight victories as the home side achieved without conceding a single goal. A home Win to NIL is available at 17/10 with WilliamHill.
Bochum Preview – League’s worst away side to confound expectations?
A side that didn’t travel particularly well last season meets one of the promotion favourites. The ‘particularly well’ description was actually an understatement on my part, as no team produced worse figures when out on their travels than Bochum did in last season’s Bundesliga 2. Which could be fairly ominous ahead of a trip to Hamburg to take on a team widely regarded as one of the favourites to be competing at the top of the league this season.
Bochum comfortably avoided a relegation scrap last time around to finish nine points clear of the bottom-three in 11th position. Had it not been for some solid displays at home, however, then it could have been an entirely different outcome. As no team registered fewer points or earned less victories from away encounters than the team nicknamed Die Unabsteigbaren (W2 D8 L7 away from home in 2018/19).
To then begin the new season on a similarly limp note, going down 3-1 on the opening matchday away to Regensburg, would imply very little has changed even if it is early days still. A 3-3 draw in their second encounter, at home to Bielefeld, in which they fought back from 2-0 down to lead 3-2 following a crazy 10-minute spell that seen them score three times, may well have felt more like a loss after conceding a stoppage time equaliser.
The season may only be three games old but Bochum have moved quickly to lay claim to being this years entertainers. All three games involving them have produced a minimum of four goals scored, as well as a 100% success rate for both teams scoring. That includes a midweek triumph over lower league opposition in the DFB Pokal, when beating Baunatal 3-2. Over 3.5 Goals is available at 19/10 with BetVictor.
Hamburg V Bochum Key Facts:
- Hamburg have only managed one win from their last six matches as the home side in Bundesliga 2 (W1 D1 L4).
- Bochum produced the fewest number of wins from away matches played in the 2018/19 Bundesliga 2 (W2 D8 L7).
- League meetings between these two both ended in 0-0 draws last season.
Betting Summary
After a 1-1 draw at home to Darmstadt was followed up with a thrashing of Nurnberg, winning 4-0 away from home, Hamburg should feel they are well-placed to push on here and record a win against the poorest away side in the division last season. However, Dieter Hecking’s side haven’t exactly been the most reliable when it comes to chalking up wins at home, having won just one of the last six such matches (W1 D2 L3).
It has been a sluggish and unconvincing opening to the season from Bochum, whose only taste of victory so far came during the week against lower league opponents in the DFB Pokal Cup. Both league games to date were incredibly entertaining, losing 3-1 away to Regensburg before playing out a 3-3 draw at home to Bielefeld. Meanwhile, no team possessed a poorer record away from home in 2018/19.
Bochum were horrendous on their travels last season and have begun the new one in a similar vein, as well as leaking goals left, right and centre. Hamburg did keep an impressive number of clean sheets at home during the previous campaign, but I am reluctant to give them my support while their current form remains erratic. Both Teams to Score would have landed in five out their six respective matches this season, and that selection feels as good a bet as any in this contest.
