The Bundesliga's bottom two sides go head-to-head when VfL Bochum host Schalke 04 on Saturday.
The visitors are unbeaten in their last five matches, though, and would move off the foot of the table should they be able to secure an away win.
Match preview
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Bochum, meanwhile, have lost five of their last six league matches, with Hertha Berlin's victory against Augsburg last weekend causing Thomas Letsch's side to slide back into the automatic relegation spots.
The 54-year-old has delivered some excellent work to even make Bochum competitive since being appointed as the club's manager last September, having taken over with the side bottom of the table with only one point from their opening seven games.
However, Letsch has been at a loss when it comes to improving his team's away form, with their 3-0 defeat at the hands of Werder Bremen last time out their eighth defeat in nine away trips under the former Vitesse Arnhem man's tutelage.
In contrast, they had won all five of their home games until suffering their first league defeat at Vonovia-Ruhrstadion under Letsch to Freiburg last month, so he will have every confidence of getting one over on his predecessor in the opposite dugout by securing a vital victory this weekend.
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Indeed, not only is Schalke's trip to Bochum a hugely important match in terms of shaping the Bundesliga's relegation picture for the rest of the campaign, visiting boss Thomas Reis will have a major point to prove at his former stomping ground.
In his first ever senior managerial role in men's football, the 49-year-old led Bochum to promotion at the end of the 2020-21 campaign, before guiding them to 13th position - nine points clear of danger - in their first season in Germany's top-flight for more than a decade.
However, he was somewhat harshly sacked after their aforementioned disastrous start to the current season, before landing on his feet by being offered the Schalke job little more than one month later.
Since losing five of his opening six league games in charge, Reis has stabilised Schalke's defence, guiding them to four consecutive goalless draws in recent weeks before winning only his second match with a crucial 2-1 win against Stuttgart last weekend.
Having looked set to be cut adrift around a month ago, Die Konigsblauen are on the brink of moving off the bottom of the table should Reis' current crop of players be able to deliver a priceless away win against his former ones on Saturday.
Team News
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Bochum will remain without Simon Zoller, Gerrit Holtmann and Cristian Gamboa due to existing injury problems, while Anthony Losilla will complete his two-match ban after being sent off against Freiburg last month.
Danilo Soares and Ivan Ordets should return to the hosts' defence after missing out due to illness against Werder Bremen, while Poland international Jacek Goralski could start in order to provide some bite in midfield.
Schalke, meanwhile, will travel without Thomas Ouwejan, Tim Skarke, Sebastian Polter, Justin Heekeren, Sepp van den Berg and Danny Latza in what represents a major injury crisis for Reis and his medical staff.
Jere Uronen, Soichiro Kozuki and Niklas Tauer are also unlikely to be involved, with Reis likely to stick with the same starting XI that ended the club's winless run of seven league games against Stuttgart last time out.
VfL Bochum possible starting lineup:
Riemann; Stafylidis, Ordets, Schlotterbeck, Soares; Kunde, Goralski; Asano, Stoger, Antwi-Adjei; Hofmann
Schalke 04 possible starting lineup:
Fährmann; Brunner, Yoshida, Jenz, Matriciani; Kral, Krauss; Drexler, Zalazar, Bulter; Frey
We say: VfL Bochum 0-0 Schalke 04
There is likely to be plenty of edge within this game considering both team's positions in the table and Reis' added motivation to secure revenge on the club which sacked him earlier this season, but it may be lacking quality at times.
With the visitors involved in goalless draws in four of their last five matches, it would not be a surprise to see a similar outcome on Saturday, with both managers likely to be petrified of losing.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Brett Curtis
