Mavropanos isn't happy after going up for a header on the touchline, but it leads to a tangle with the Bochum bench. Coach Letsch is screaming for them to stop and just get on with the game. Couple of cards handed out.

It's the Bochum goalkeeper who gets his head to the corner, which is eventually delivered after a substitution delay, but it pops up kindly for opposite number Bredlow to catch.

There's four extra minutes to be played at the Ruhrstadion as Bochum win a corner. Up comes goalkeeper Riemann.

All 11 white shirts with a red hoop back in their own half looking to repel Bochum's advances.

The last time Stuttgart scored three goals away from home in the Bundesliga was in a 4-1 win at Augsburg in January 2021. This is the first time Bochum have shipped three at home under Thomas Letsch.

So far, so good for Stuttgart under Hoeneß. One goal in each of his games in charge, none conceded. And as it stands they'll be moving off the bottom of the table with seven games to go.

Two extra minutes as Stafylidis delivers a free-kick from wide on the left, which is poor and hits the first man.

The free-kick comes to nothing as it sails into Riemann's hands. The goalkeeper tries to move play on quickly with a punt upfield, but Guirassy sticks his leg in the way and also has his name taken.

Antwi-Adjei trips Millot as he tries to drive into the box. Free-kick from a dangerous position right of the penalty area and the first card of the game to the Bochum man.

Bochum are the only team in the Bundesliga this season yet to earn a single point from games in which they've trailed. That's 16 times they've gone behind, 16 defeats.

The hosts get things going in this huge fixture at the bottom of the table. Bochum can go nine clear of Stuttgart with a win, but an away victory will bring the bottom side to within three points of VfL in 14th.

The passionate home supporters are belting out their traditional pre-match club anthem, scarves aloft in the Ruhr sunshine. We're almost ready to go in Bochum.

Konstantinos Stafylidis is making his 100th Bundesliga appearance today, Danilo Soares his 50th.

Founded in 1893, this is rather fittingly VfB Stuttgart's 1,893rd game in the Bundesliga. Only Bayern (1,969) and Bremen (1,961) have played more fixtures in the league's 59-year history. Dortmund are also on 1,893. Bochum are still some way short of their founding year of 1848, with this game no. 1,221 - that places them 13th in the all-time standings.

Sebastian Hoeneß showed in his first game in charge during the week as Stuttgart beat Nuremberg 1-0 in the DFB Cup that he’ll be bringing a back three back to VfB. Matchwinner Enzo Millot is given a chance from the start in place of Genki Haraguchi, while six-goal top scorer Serhou Guirassy gets the nod from the off in his first start in over two months after injury. Luca Pfeiffer makes drops to the bench, where Silas also takes a place as he prepares for his own comeback.

Little surprise from Thomas Letsch with his team selection as he makes just one change from last week’s 1-1 draw in Freiburg. That sees first-choice left-back Danilo Soares restored after a one-game suspension in place of Dominique Heintz. It’s therefore the same XI that beat Leipzig and Cologne in the preceding two fixtures.

Bredlow - Mavropanos, Anton, Ito - Vagnoman, Endo (c), Karazor, Millot, Sosa - Guirassy, Führich

Müller, Coulibaly, Tomas, Perea, Silas, Stenzel, Haraguchi, Pfeiffer, Zagadou

Riemann - Stafylidis, Ordets, Masovic, Soares - Stöger, Losilla (c), Osterhage - Asano, Hofmann, Antwi-Adjei

Esser, Zoller, Förster, Holtmann, Janko, Kunde, Broschinski, Heintz, Schlotterbeck

Stuttgart reacted to that loss by sacking Labbadia after just four months in charge, and appointing Hoeneß as his replacement until summer 2025. Labbadia won just one of 11 Bundesliga games in his second stint at the VfB helm, with the defeat to Union his seventh since taking the reins from Pellegrino Matarazzo on 5 December 2022. Die Schwaben have slipped from 16th to 18th in the Bundesliga standings on his watch, and sit five points adrift of outright safety with eight rounds of fixtures remaining.

Bochum have the edge after moving four points clear of the relegation play-off spot, thanks to a run of three games without defeat. Stuttgart provide the next test of their top-flight staying power in what will be Sebastian Hoeneß’s first game in charge after Bruno Labbadia was shown the door with VfB propping up the rest of the table. The three-time Bundesliga champions currently sit five points adrift of outright safety.

From Super Saturday to relegation six-pointer Sunday, temperatures are set to reach fever pitch at the foot of the standings with four of the five teams fighting for their Bundesliga lives in action on Sunday. Stay tuned!