VfL Bochum and Bayer Leverkusen will be looking to take one step closer to Bundesliga survival and Champions League qualification respectively when they go head to head on Sunday.
The hosts picked up an excellent victory on the road last weekend to move further away from the drop, whilst the visitors recorded a narrow win of their own to strengthen their hold on a top-four spot.
Match preview
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Japanese international Takuma Asano was the hero for Bochum when they travelled to Hoffenheim last Saturday, netting a brace, including an excellent solo effort for the first, in a 2-1 triumph at the top-four hopefuls.
The 27-year-old's goals lifted Sunday's hosts up to 11th in the Bundesliga table, whilst moving Die Unabsteigbaren nine points clear of danger in the process.
Three points at the PreZero Arena came at a particularly important moment in the closing stages of the season when Bochum's preceding form is taken into account.
A run of just one win, and three defeats, in the prior five-game spell had left Thomas Reis's side looking over their shoulders once more despite appearing comfortable for much of the second half of the campaign, but the impressive victory last time out saw them edge closer to extending their stay in the German top flight.
The boss is certain to ensure complacency does not become an issue over the next couple of weeks, so Bochum are sure to provide a stern test for the visitors at a venue where league leaders Bayern Munich were comfortably beaten 4-2 just two months ago.
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Meanwhile, Leverkusen picked up a 2-1 win of their own last time out, with the victory over relegation-threatened Hertha Berlin at the BayArena strengthening their hold on a top-four place as we head into matchday 29.
Lucas Alario and Karim Bellarabi netted the goals inside the opening 45, but after Vladimir Darida halved the deficit for Hertha before half time, Die Werkself struggled to the finish line against their opponents.
The hard-earned three points could prove crucial come the end of the campaign though, with the win, being coupled with defeats for the challenging Freiburg and Hoffenheim, seeing Gerardo Seoane's side open up a six-point advantage in the race for Champions League qualification for next season.
Therefore, a third successive triumph on Sunday would edge the visitors even closer to a return to Europe's grand stage, and Seoane will be hopeful of taking home all three points once more ahead of a tough end to the campaign over the coming weeks.
Encounters against fellow top-four chasing RB Leipzig, Hoffenheim and Freiburg are all to come in the five fixtures that follow the trip to Bochum, so anything other than a win is sure to ramp up the pressure on Leverkusen's shoulders if their challengers are able to come out victorious in their respective fixtures over the weekend.
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Team News
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Bochum look set to be without up to three players for Sunday's visit of Leverkusen, including long-term absentee Simon Zoller.
The forward has returned to training recently but is not expected to end his seven-month absence just yet, but Armel Bella-Kotchap is back available after serving a one-match suspension last weekend.
Jurgen Locadia continues to struggle with a hip problem and will remain on the sidelines as a result, as will Christopher Antwi-Adjei, who will miss out due to a groin issue.
With no other fresh injury concerns, and following the success in Hoffenheim, Reis is likely to name an unchanged starting lineup.
As for the visitors, top goalscorer Patrik Schick made his return from injury off the bench against Hertha last weekend, so despite opening the scoring in the 2-1 win, Alario could well make way for the Czech Republic international.
The influential teenager Florian Wirtz, and fellow forward Amine Adli, remain out for the rest of this season, whilst Andrey Lunev, Timothy Fosu-Mensah and Jeremie Frimpong will join them on the sidelines.
Kerem Demirbay is back available following his ban, and the 28-year-old is expected to dislodge Charles Aranguiz from the starting 11 to start alongside Robert Andrich at the base of the midfield.
VfL Bochum possible starting lineup:
Riemann; Gamboa, Masovic, Leitsch, Soares; Losilla, Stafylidis; Pantovic, Rexhbecaj, Asano; Polter
Bayer Leverkusen possible starting lineup:
Hradecky; Kossounou, Tah, Tapsoba, Bakker; Andrich, Demirbay; Bellarabi, Paulinho, Diaby; Schick
We say: VfL Bochum 1-2 Bayer Leverkusen
Leverkusen have often been a far more convincing side on their travels this season, so for this reason, we can see the visitors coming out on top here.
Despite edging closer towards survival last week, Bochum should not be taken lightly, and as a result, we can see it being a tight encounter at a venue where the hosts have caused some top Bundesliga sides numerous problems already this campaign.
Top tip
Matthew Tranter
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 Bayer Leverkusen win with a probability of 39.81%. A win for VfL Bochum had a probability of 35.69% and a draw had a probability of 24.5%.
The most likely scoreline for a Bayer Leverkusen win was 1-2 with a probability of 8.65%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (7.95%) and 0-2 (6.05%). The likeliest VfL Bochum win was 2-1 (8.13%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.36%). The actual scoreline of 0-0 was predicted with a 5.2% likelihood.
