Bayer Leverkusen will be looking to claim a fifth straight Bundesliga victory when they welcome fellow in-form side VfL Bochum to the BayArena on Wednesday evening.
The visitors, meanwhile, are seeking to move further clear of the relegation zone with a fourth successive top-flight win.
Match preview
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After winning three successive Bundesliga matches before the World Cup break, Bayer Leverkusen picked up from where they left off with a 3-2 victory away at Borussia Monchengladbach on Sunday.
Despite Lars Stindl netting a late brace to restore hope for the hosts, earlier goals from Mitchel Bakker, Amine Adli and Nadiem Amiri were enough to help Die Werkself claim maximum points for the sixth time this season.
Five of those victories have come under to tutelage of head coach Xavi Alonso who has helped steer Leverkusen from the relegation zone to ninth place, sitting six points clear of the bottom three.
Alonso's side are yet to lose at home in the Bundesliga since the Spaniard replaced Gerardo Seoane in early October, winning three of their four fixtures during this period by an aggregate score of 11-0.
With 18 Bundesliga matches still remaining this season, Die Werkself will hope to build on their positive form as they look to close in on the European places, and a win on Wednesday against Bochum – who they beat 1-0 on home soil last season – could move them to within four points of the top six.
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With one point on the board and a -19 goal difference after their first eight Bundesliga matches, second-season syndrome appeared to have struck Bochum, and their supporters were fearing for the worst.
However, Thomas Letsch's side have since made significant improvements, winning five of their last eight top-flight fixtures, including four on home soil against Eintracht Frankfurt, Union Berlin – who sit second and third respectvley in the table – Borussia Monchengladbach and Hertha Berlin.
A 3-1 victory over the latter was secured last weekend courtesy of strikes from Philipp Hofmann (2) and January loan signing Keven Schlotterbeck, and the Blues have climbed out of the relegation zone and up to 14th place, two points clear of the bottom two.
Bochum will now hope to improve their away from, having lost seven of their eight league matches on the road so far this season, although coming away with maximum points on Wednesday could prove challenging as they have failed to win any of their last six competitive meetings with Leverkusen.
Team News
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Leverkusen duo Patrik Schick and Charles Aranguiz both missed last weekend's match due to respective groin and calf injuries and will remain sidelined for Wednesday's contest.
After 10 months out with a ruptured cruciate ligament, Florian Wirtz made his long-awaited return to the first team as a late substitute against Monchengladbach, and Alonso has suggested that the highly-rated 19-year-old will be fit to start against Bochum.
Alonso is unlikely to make too many changes, if any, to his starting lineup, but the potential inclusion of attacking midfielder Wirtz could see Adam Hlozek make way, with Amine Adli leading the line up front.
As for Bochum, Cristian Gamboa and Paul Grave are ruled out with respective knee and shoulder injuries, while Michael Esser (knock) and Dominique Heintz (back) are both doubtful and will be assessed ahead of kickoff.
Letsch may be tempted to select the same side that began against Hertha Berlin on Saturday, with Freiburg loanee Schlotterbeck keeping his place at centre-back ahead of Erhan Masovic.
Attacking trio Hofmann, Simon Zoller and Christopher Antwi-Adjei, who have scored 11 of Bochum's 17 Bundesliga goals combined so far this term, are all expected to continue in the final third.
Bayer Leverkusen possible starting lineup:
Hradecky; Kossounou, Tapsoba, Hincapie; Frimpong, Andrich, Palacios, Bakker; Diaby, Wirtz; Adli
VfL Bochum possible starting lineup:
Riemann; Janko, Ordets, Schlotterbeck, Soares; Stoger, Losilla, Forster; Zoller, Hofmann, Antwi-Adjei
We say: Bayer Leverkusen 4-2 VfL Bochum
Both sides head into Wednesday's fixture in high spirts after putting together impressive winning streaks and they will fancy their chances of claiming maximum points once again at the BayArena.
An entertaining contest with plenty of goalmouth action could be in store here, but we believe Leverkusen will come out on top in front of their own fans.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Oliver Thomas
