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

Meanwhile, Bochum will be looking to avoid a major upset as they attempt to replicate last season's run to the quarter-finals.

Match preview

After winning promotion from the fourth tier last season, Elversberg have carried their momentum into the 2022-23 campaign to top the 3.Liga table after 12 games.

Impressively, Elversberg have only lost two matches all season, while they have managed to win 11 of their 14 competitive games this term.

One of those victories took place in the first round of the DFB-Pokal where the third-tier side pulled off an almighty upset to eliminate Bayer Leverkusen.

Jannik Rochelt, Kevin Koffi, Luca Schnellbacher and Kevin Conrad all found the net to claim a memorable 4-3 victory over a club that are currently competing in the Champions League.

The hosts will attempt to oust another Bundesliga team on Tuesday, and they will certainly head into the match with confidence after winning their last three games.

While Elversberg are in fine form, Bochum have only been able to celebrate two victories in what has been a disappointing season up to this point.

Their first win of the campaign came against Viktoria Berlin in the first round of the cup, but they had to wait over two months for their second victory.

Thomas Reis was relieved of his managerial duties after overseeing a run of six consecutive defeats to begin the Bundesliga campaign, and he was subsequently replaced by Thomas Letsch.

After beginning his tenure with a demoralising 4-0 defeat to RB Leipzig, Letsch worked his magic against Eintracht Frankfurt to guide his new side to their first league victory of the season.

However, Bochum's struggles on the road continued at the weekend as they were comfortably beaten 4-1 by managerless Stuttgart, and as a result, they will head into Tuesday's cup tie off the back of five consecutive away defeats.

Elversberg DFB-Pokal form:

W

Elversberg form (all competitions):

VfL Bochum DFB-Pokal form:

W

VfL Bochum form (all competitions):

L

L

D

L

W

L

Team News

The hosts are expected to be without the services of Carlo Sickinger, Patryk Dragon and Sebastian Saftig due to injury issues.

After beating Viktoria Berlin 2-0 at the weekend, Horst Steffen could name an unchanged lineup for the second-round contest.

Schnellbacher has scored eight goals in 12 appearances this season, and he will have the chance to add to his tally when he partners Valdrin Mustafa in a front two.

As for Bochum, Takuma Asano and Paul Grave will miss out through injury, while Saidy Janko, Lys Mousset, Jacek Goralski and Kostas Stafylidis are all unlikely to feature.

Despite playing against a third-tier side, Letsch is expected to name a strong lineup as he looks to avoid an upset.

Although changes could be kept to a minimum, Christopher Antwi-Adjei could be given a starting place after coming off the bench at half time against Stuttgart.

Elversberg possible starting lineup:

Kristof; Fellhauer, Correia, Conrad, Neubauer; Feil, Jacobsen, Sahin, Rochelt; Mustafa, Schnellbacher

VfL Bochum possible starting lineup:

Riemann; Gamboa, Ordets, Masovic, Soares; Forster, Losilla, Stoger; Antwi-Adjei, Holtmann, Hofmann

We say: Elversberg 2-3 VfL Bochum

Elversberg demonstrated in the win over Leverkusen that they are more than capable of competing against Bundesliga sides, and we think Tuesday's game will be a close-fought contest, but we expect Bochum to edge out their hosts to progress to the next round.

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