Edin Terzic has won every one of his seven DFB-Pokal ties as BVB head coach to date, while Thomas Letsch has won every one of his five Bundesliga home games in the VfL dugout. Whose run will end on Wednesday? The Ruhr region is eagerly anticipating a big "Little Derby" in the DFB-Pokal Round of 16.

Only one previous cup clash

The two clubs are meeting in a competitive match for the 81st time. But they have only gone head-to-head on one previous occasion in the DFB-Pokal: the 1982/83 quarter-finals. Goals by Erdal Keser (11) and Bochum's Stefan Pater (73) sent the game into extra-time in front of 35,000 spectators at the Westfalenstadion, with Marcel Raducanu (114) and amateur player Franz-Josef Schmedding (118) then scoring late on to seal a semi-final berth for BVB.

Clean sheet kings

Both Borussia Dortmund (3-0 at 1860 Munich, 2-0 away to Hannover 96) and VfL Bochum (3-0 away to Viktoria Berlin, 1-0 at SV Elversberg) have kept clean sheets away from home in the opening two rounds of the cup.

Close contests on the B1

With 36 wins, BVB have a better record in the "Little Derby" than VfL (20 victories). But the close nature of many previous contests between the clubs is demonstrated by the fact that almost a third of their games have ended in stalemate (24 of 80). If you look at the 34 other clubs that are currently in the Bundesliga or the Bundesliga 2, Borussia only have a lower win ratio against 10 clubs than they do against VfL (45%).

Anne Castroper, Part 1

VfL Bochum have won each of their five Bundesliga home games since the arrival of Thomas Letsch in the dugout (22 September 2022). They did not even go behind in their victories over Frankfurt (3-0), the two Berlin clubs Union (2-1) and Hertha (3-1), Gladbach (2-1) and most recently Hoffenheim (5-2), and have moved up from bottom to 15th in the table.

Anne Castroper, Part 2

Despite their overwhelming dominance, BVB had to settle for a 1-1 draw in the most recent Bundesliga match in Bochum. They recorded more possession (62%), had 19 shots more than the opposition (23-4), were clearly ahead in terms of "Expected Goals" (2.83-1.02) and won 15 corners (Bochum did not have one). But they only scored once through Julian Brandt. Prior to that, there have been two Dortmund victories, four more draws and two successes for Bochum at the Ruhrstadion this millennium. 

Round of 16 curse

BVB have reached the cup final five times since 2014! Whenever they have fallen short on the road to Berlin, it has always been in the round of 16. They were knocked out in the last 16 by Bayern in 2017/18 and then lost to Werder Bremen in both of the following seasons, before going out away to FC St. Pauli last term. This negative run was only interrupted by the 3-2 win over Paderborn AET in the 2020/21 campaign.

Respectable DFB-Pokal record

Bochum have reached the quarter-finals on three occasions in the past decade, where they were eliminated against eventual finalists Freiburg (2021/22) and Bayern Munich (2011/12 and 2015/16). They have previously reached the final twice but lost on both occasions – against Eintracht Frankfurt in 1998 (1-0) and 1. FC Cologne in 1968 (4-1).

Adeyemi not involved

Karim Adeyemi was sent off in the game away to Hannover 96. He was suspended by the DFB for two cup ties and could therefore feature again in the final at the earliest.

Draw on 19 February

The draw for the quarter-final pairings will only be conducted one and a half weeks after the final whistle in the last round of 16 tie. The draw can be watched on ZDF from 17:10 CET on Sunday 19 February. VfB Stuttgart, Union Berlin, Leipzig and Bayern Munich have already booked their places in the last eight. The other possible opponents for the winner of the B1 battle will come from the following fixtures: SV Sandhausen vs. SC Freiburg, Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Darmstadt 98 and 1. FC Nuremberg vs. Fortuna Düsseldorf.
Compiled by Boris Rupert