VfL Bochum 1848 vs 1. FSV Mainz 05 Prediction & Preview
Nine points against five. That is the gap between 1. FSV Mainz 05 and VfL Bochum 1848 across their last six matches, and the goals are further apart still: Mainz have scored 14 and conceded 13, Bochum have scored 5 and conceded 8. The two meet in the second round of the DFB Pokal at the Ruhrstadion in Bochum on Tuesday 27 October 2026, kick-off 17:00 GMT.
- Fixture: VfL Bochum 1848 v 1. FSV Mainz 05
- Competition: DFB Pokal, second round
- Date: Tuesday 27 October 2026
- Kick-off: 17:00 GMT
- Venue: Ruhrstadion, Bochum, Germany
VfL Bochum 1848 have stopped scoring
Bochum drew 1-1 at home with VfL Wolfsburg 4 days before this match, which ended a run of three defeats: 0-2 away at 1. FC Kaiserslautern 10 days before this tie, 0-1 at home to Arminia Bielefeld 16 days before, and 1-2 away at Hannover 96 37 days before. The one win in that stretch came 52 days out, 2-1 away at SG Dynamo Dresden.
Six matches, then, for a return of won 1, drew 2, lost 3 and five points. Bochum have scored two or more in only 1 of those 6 and failed to score in 2. They have kept no clean sheets in 6. The home record is the hard part: won 0 of 3.
Mainz 05 keep playing high-scoring matches
Three or more goals have been scored in 5 of Mainz 05's last 6 matches, which tells you most of what you need about them. They lost 2-3 at home to SV Werder Bremen 3 days before this tie, lost 3-4 at home to Bayer 04 Leverkusen 17 days before, and lost 1-3 at home to Eintracht Frankfurt 45 days before.
Away from the Mewa Arena they have been a different team. Mainz won 3 of 3 on the road in that run: 1-0 at FC Schalke 04 10 days before this match, 4-3 at Borussia M'gladbach 38 days before, and 3-0 at SV Waldhof Mannheim in a friendly 24 days out. Won 3, drew 0, lost 3 overall, nine points, and they have failed to score in none of the 6.
Team news
Bochum are without Oliver Olsen, Philipp Strompf, Enis Çokaj, Babis Drakas and Jean Manuel Mbom, while Mainz list goalkeeper Robin Zentner with a hand injury, Silas Katompa Mvumpa with a broken ankle, Dominik Kohr with an ankle problem and Otto Ruoppi with a knee injury, according to FotMob; Alexander Schwolow has taken the goalkeeping role in Zentner's place, and Paul Nebel, Fabio Gruber and Silvan Widmer had all returned to training as of 6 October, per Comunio. Bochum head coach Uwe Rösler said after the Wolfsburg draw that he could live with the performance, via Sportschau, and Urs Fischer is in his first full season in charge at Mainz, as Bundesliga.com notes.
Where the two records meet
Both of these sides have won nothing at home in their last three. Only one of them is at home here, and it is the one that has scored five goals in six matches.
The clubs last met 184 days before this fixture, on 26 April 2026, when Mainz won 3-0 at home in the 2. Frauen-Bundesliga.
Both teams scored in 4 of 6 for Bochum and 4 of 6 for Mainz, so a goal at each end is the ordinary outcome for either of them.
VfL Bochum 1848 vs 1. FSV Mainz 05 prediction
We are calling a 1-2 away win for 1. FSV Mainz 05 against VfL Bochum 1848 in the DFB Pokal second round at the Ruhrstadion on Tuesday 27 October 2026. Mainz have won all three of their away matches in this run and scored 14 goals in six, which is a long way clear of Bochum's five.
Bochum are not an easy night, though. Two of their last six finished level and they have conceded two or more in only 2 of 6, so the margin should be narrow rather than wide.
Our prediction: VfL Bochum 1848 1-2 1. FSV Mainz 05
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