Hoffenheim will welcome VfL Bochum to the Rhein-Neckar Arena for their Bundesliga encounter on Saturday afternoon.
The hosts could move into the top four with a victory, while the visitors could steer themselves nine points clear of the relegation zone if they claim all three points.
Match preview
© Reuters
Hoffenheim were dealt a blow in their pursuit of Champions League qualification when their five-game unbeaten run came to an end in disappointing fashion at the hands of relegation-threatened Hertha Berlin on March 19.
Goals from former Hoffenheim man Ishak Belfodil, Niklas Stark and Lucas Tousart condemned Die Kraichgauer to a 3-0 away defeat, their third loss in five matches on the road since the turn of the year.
Sebastian Hoeness's men missed the chance to climb into the top four and have instead slipped to sixth place, one point behind fourth-placed RB Leipzig with seven Bundesliga games remaining.
Hoffenheim will be pleased to return to the Rhein-Neckar Arena, where they have lost only one of their last 11 league games. Die Kraichgauer also head into Saturday's game unbeaten in their last 12 home league matches against newly-promoted teams.
They did, however, suffer a 2-0 defeat against Bochum in the reverse fixture in November, so Hoeness and co will be aware of the threat that they could pose again this weekend.
© Reuters
Bochum are currently enduring a difficult spell of form, with their only victory in their last six games across all competitions coming against basement club Greuther Furth at the beginning of March.
Before the international break, Die Unabsteigbaren followed up their 2-1 away defeat at Eintracht Frankfurt with a 2-0 loss at home to Borussia Monchengladbach, their 13th league defeat of the campaign.
Thomas Reis's men may now be starting to look over their shoulders as they have slipped down to 12th in the Bundesliga standings, just six points above Hertha Berlin who currently occupy the relegation playoff position with seven matches remaining.
Bochum travel to the Rhein-Neckar Arena after failing to win any of their last five away games, and they have failed to keep a clean sheet in each of their last eight on the road.
Die Unabsteigbaren suffered a 3-0 defeat the last time that they faced Hoffenheim away from home, but as mentioned earlier, their 2-0 home win without reply this season should provide them with confidence on Saturday.
- W
- W
- W
- W
- D
- L
- W
- D
- L
- W
- L
- L
- D
- L
- L
- W
- L
- L
Team News
© Reuters
Hoffenheim forward Robert Skov remains sidelined with a thigh injury, while Stefan Posch, Benjamin Hubner and Philipp Pentke will all be assessed ahead of kickoff after testing positive for COVID-19 last week.
Diadie Samassekou is available after serving a one-match suspension last time out, and the Mali international could replace Angelo Stiller in the starting lineup, joining Dennis Geiger and Christoph Baumgartner in centre-midfield.
As Hoffenheim failed to register a single shot on goal last time out, Israeli striker Munas Dabbur will be hoping to force his way back into the first XI ahead of either Georginio Rutter or Andrej Kramaric.
As for Bochum, their squad has recently been hit by COVID-19, with Milos Pantovic, Cristian Gamboa, Patrick Osterhage, Robert Tesche, Tom Weilandt, Vassilis Lambropoulos and Gerrit Holtmann all doubtful heading into Saturday's game.
The visitors will also assess the condition of centre-back Maxim Leitsch and forward Danny Blum, who are suffering with respective groin and muscle injuries.
Armel Bella-Kotchap is suspended due to an accumulation of yellow cards, so Erhan Masovic is currently the only centre-back definitely available to play this weekend.
Top scorer Sebastian Polter, who has eight strikes to his name this season, is expected to lead the line and he could be supported in attack by Christopher Antwi-Adjei and Takuma Asano.
Hoffenheim possible starting lineup:
Baumann; Potsch, Grillitsch, Vogt; Kaderabek, Geiger, Samassekou, Baumgartner, Raum; Kramaric, Dabbur
VfL Bochum possible starting lineup:
Riemann; Bockhorn, Masovic, Lampropoulos, Stafylidis; Lowen, Losilla, Rexhbecaj; Asano, Polter, Holtmann
We say: Hoffenheim 2-1 VfL Bochum
Both sides will be confident of claiming all three points this weekend as they seek to bounce back from defeats last time out.
Hoffenheim will head into this contest as the favourites, and although they suffered defeat against Bochum earlier this season, we can see them getting revenge in front of their own supporters.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Hoffenheim win with a probability of 60.09%. A draw had a probability of 20.3% and a win for VfL Bochum had a probability of 19.63%.
The most likely scoreline for a Hoffenheim win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.8%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (8.5%) and 1-0 (7.92%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (9.12%), while for a VfL Bochum win it was 1-2 (5.26%). The actual scoreline of 1-2 was predicted with a 5.3% likelihood.
