Bochum vs Borussia Dortmund

High-flying Borussia Dortmund head to the Vonovia Ruhrstadion to encounter Bundesliga strugglers Bochum in an exciting DFB-Pokal round-of-16 tie.

Despite being embroiled in a dreaded relegation battle in the Bundesliga from day one, Bochum have starred in the two opening DFB-Pokal match-ups, overcoming Viktoria Berlin and Elversberg by an aggregate score of 4-0. Thomas Letsch’s men have been one of the most exciting Bundesliga sides to watch since the calendar year flipped to 2023, with three of their four league outings seeing over 3.5 goals and both teams scoring. After losing back-to-back top-flight fixtures by multi-goal margins, ‘Die Unabsteigbaren’ thrashed top-half TSG Hoffenheim 5-2 at home last weekend to set themselves up nicely for this contest. Driven by revenge for an underwhelming 3-0 league defeat earlier in the season, Bochum will be seeking their first competitive home triumph over Dortmund since 2007.

Indeed, Borussia Dortmund haven’t lost any of their last four visits to Bochum (W2, D2), scoring 2+ goals three times in that stretch. Based on their scoring prowess in the early DFB-Pokal exchanges, another free-scoring performance could be in store. Edin Terzic’s men opened their domestic cup campaign with a comprehensive 3-0 win at lower-league Munich 1860 before easing past Hannover 2-0 in the last round. Dortmund’s league showings in 2023 have been equally impressive, with the visitors winning all four Bundesliga fixtures in the new calendar year via an aggregate score of 13-5, including a 5-1 demolition of ten-man Freiburg last weekend.