Vfl Bochum and Augsburg will be looking to bounce back to winning ways in the Bundesliga when they face off at Vonovia Ruhrstadion on Saturday afternoon.
There has been very little to choose between these two sides this season, and they head into this match with just one point separating them after 19 league games.
Match preview
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Bochum are in 14th place in the league standings, exactly where they finished the last campaign, though they have opened a nine-point gap between themselves and Mainz, who are the first side below the dotted line.
The Blues' season has already seen two distinct phases, having initially struggled with a winless streak spanning the first nine league games of the season, which saw them enter November entangled in the relegation battle.
However, a first league win over Darmstadt on November 3 finally got Thomas Letsch's side going, and since then, they took 15 points from the next 10 games, including four wins, three draws, and three losses.
After losing 3-1 to Borussia Dortmund last week, the hosts will be looking forward to returning to Vonovia Ruhrstadion, where they have won three of their last four league games and are unbeaten in their last six.
Their current run marks the longest home unbeaten streak in Letsch's reign and is the second-longest in the club's history since they went 10 matches without defeat back in the 2007-08 season under the guidance of Marcel Koller.
Adding to their confidence, Bochum have a very good record against this opponent in recent seasons (W3 D1 L1), with only Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich possessing better win rates against Augsburg over the same period.
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Meanwhile, after avoiding the drop by just three points last season, Augsburg have struggled to find consistency again this term and head into this match off the back of a 3-2 loss at home to Bayern Munich in midweek.
That result marked Fuggerstadter's third loss in four matches on either side of the festive season break, while they have only secured two victories in their last 10 league games dating back to the start of November.
With four losses in their last six matches, Jess Thorup's side have suffered the joint-most defeats in the top flight over that period - an unwanted record that they share with bottom club Darmstadt.
The major area of concern for Thorup will be his side's defensive frailties, as after 19 games this term, they are the only side in the league that has failed to keep a single clean sheet.
Since 2000, only Werder Bremen in 2015-16 went a longer period without managing a shoutout (32 games). In addition, Fuggerstadter are the only side across Europe's top five leagues to have not kept a single clean sheet up to this point in 2023-24.
Team News
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Mohammed Tolba has not featured at all this season and is likely to miss the remainder of the campaign as well due to a serious ACL injury.
Tim Oermann (muscle) and Michael Esser (knee) are also out for this match due to injury, while Keven Schlotterbeck could be in line for selection after returning to training following a muscle strain.
Takuma Asano is away on international duty and could be unavailable for Bochum for a while longer if Japan beat Iran in the Asian Cup semi-final taking place earlier in the day.
Thorup has two long-term absentees in Reece Oxford and Raphael Framberger, who are expected to remain sidelined with illness and an ACL injury, respectively.
Niklas Dorsch will also miss this match with a groin injury, while Mads Pedersen and Dion Beljo are both flagged as doubts for this match, although the former is believed to be likely to miss at least two more weeks.
VfL Bochum possible starting lineup:
Riemann; Gamboa, Masovic, Loosli, Wittek; Osterhage, Losilla, Forster; Adjej, Paciencia, Bero
Augsburg possible starting lineup:
Dahmne; Mbabu, Gouweleeuw, Uduokhai, Iago; Jakic, Rexhbecaj; Jensen, Demirovic, Vargas; Tietz
We say: VfL Bochum 2-1 Augsburg
Despite their lowly league position, Bochum have maintained a very good home record this season, losing just once in nine matches at Vonovia Ruhrstadion and winning three of their last four. Augsburg will not make it easy for the hosts, but we feel that their inability to keep teams from scoring against them will cost them in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
