Preview: Borussia Dortmund vs. VfL Bochum - prediction, team news, lineups

The visitors have climbed off the foot of the table in recent weeks, but they are still languishing within the automatic relegation zone ahead of their trip to the Westfalenstadion.

Match preview

Dortmund have moved back into the Champions League qualification places following successive league wins against Stuttgart and Eintracht Frankfurt, with Jude Bellingham bagging the winner in a 2-1 win at Deutsch Bank Park last weekend.

The England midfielder has taken his game to another level this season with nine goals in 18 appearances in all competitions, which is more than he managed across the past two seasons combined in European competitions and the Bundesliga.

The 19-year-old was denied the opportunity to continue his goalscoring streak in the Champions League by being rested on Wednesday, though, as BVB were held to a 1-1 draw by Copenhagen in Denmark, although very little was riding on the match with Edin Terzic's side already through to the knockout stages.

The 40-year-old will expect his side's winning run in the Bundesliga to continue against struggling Bochum on Saturday, as they look to keep within three points of Bayern Munich while hauling Union Berlin in ahead of the league leaders' trip to Leverkusen on Sunday.

Bochum have undoubtedly improved since appointing Thomas Letsch as manager to replace the departed Thomas Reis, who has since joined relegation rivals Schalke 04, with six points from their last four matches moving them above Reis's new side in the table.

However, both of those wins have come at home, with successive away defeats to Stuttgart and Wolfsburg meaning that they are still yet to claim a single point on the road this season, having conceded four goals in each of their last three away trips.

As such, Letsch's expectations will have to be realistic ahead of a tricky trip to Dortmund this weekend, with keeping their goals against tally to a minimum likely to be his main target.

Indeed, they have more winnable fixtures at home to Borussia Monchengladbach and away to Augsburg prior to breaking for the World Cup later this month, so anything on Saturday would be considered a huge bonus as they look to move outside of the relegation places.

Borussia Dortmund Bundesliga form:

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Borussia Dortmund form (all competitions):

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VfL Bochum Bundesliga form:

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Team News

Dortmund have a lengthy injury list at present, with Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Mahmoud Dahoud, Sebastian Haller, Thomas Meunier and Mateu Morey all ruled out of the weekend's action, while vice-captain Mats Hummels and club captain Marco Reus may not be risked having picked up knocks in recent weeks.

However, Raphael Guerreiro could return from a muscle strain to solve a major headache at left-back, while Bellingham will return to the starting XI feeling fresh after being unused in midweek.

Bochum, meanwhile, are expected to travel without Paul Grave, Erhan Masovic, Jacek Goralski, Takuma Asano and Lys Mousset as the quintet remain sidelined through injury.

Letsch may be contemplating making a few changes after being hammered 4-0 by Wolfsburg last time out, with Gerrit Holtmann, Simon Zoller and Kostas Stafylidis hoping to be recalled to the starting line-up.

Borussia Dortmund possible starting lineup:

Kobel; Wolf, Sule, Schlotterbeck, Guerreiro; Ozcan, Bellingham; Adeyemi, Brandt, Reyna; Moukoko

VfL Bochum possible starting lineup:

Riemann; Gamboa, Ordets, Heintz, Soares; Losilla, Stoger; Osei-Tutu, Forster, Holtmann; Hofmann

We say: Borussia Dortmund 3-0 VfL Bochum

We expect Dortmund to have far too much quality for Bochum, who have failed to register a single point on the road this season.

Having conceded four goals in each of their last three away matches, the visitors may be content with keeping the scoreline as low as possible, while Terzic will be satisfied with any victory given his side's fixture pile-up.

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