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

The visitors, meanwhile, finally ended their losing streak after claiming a 1-1 draw against FC Koln prior to the international break.

Match preview

Leipzig's start to the league campaign has been incredibly patchy, with two draws followed by two victories and three defeats in a frustratingly inconsistent manner.

Shipping four goals each to Eintracht Frankfurt and Shakhtar Donetsk within the space of four days ultimately led to the end of Domenico Tedesco's reign, with Marco Rose winning his first game in charge against his former club Borussia Dortmund in a 3-0 victory.

However, despite an impressive first half performance, Leipzig were beaten 2-0 by Real Madrid in the Champions League to leave them pointless after two matches, before being comfortably beaten 3-0 by Borussia Monchengladbach in their last match before the international break, as a brace from Jonas Hofmann within the opening 35 minutes proved to be too much for Rose's side to come back from.

A home game against the worst side in the division by some distance on current form provides an excellent opportunity for Rose to implement more consistency going forward, with the international break potentially allowing his players some useful time to think about their new manager's methods and how they can adapt to them more effectively in the coming weeks.

Bochum have appointed a new manager themselves, with Thomas Letsch leaving his post at Vitesse to join the struggling German outfit.

This will be the 54-year-old's first managerial job in Germany, having spent several years in Austria before guiding Vitesse to successive top-six finishes in his two seasons in the Eredivisie.

With Bochum four points adrift at the bottom of the table, Letsch will be acutely aware of the scale of the challenge in front of him, even if their six-match losing streak did finally come to an end against Koln to remove a fraction of pressure from the playing squad's collective shoulders.

Linton Maina's 88th-minute equaliser denied Die Unabsteigbaren a maiden win of the campaign, although in truth it would have been an undeserved one given that they led through Benno Schmitz's early own goal, and failed to have a single shot on target during the course of the match.

The former Austria Wien manager has been handed a difficult start to life in the shape of Saturday's trip to Leipzig, but he will hope to prey on any complacency within the forthcoming opposition's ranks, especially given their slow start to the season themselves.

RB Leipzig Bundesliga form:

D

L

W

L

W

L

RB Leipzig form (all competitions):

W

L

L

W

L

L

VfL Bochum Bundesliga form:

L

L

L

L

L

D

Team News

Leipzig will remain without Lukas Klostermann, Konrad Laimer and Dani Olmo for the foreseeable future due to serious ligament injuries, while Marcel Halstenberg is doubtful due to a back problem.

Rose dropped the misfiring Timo Werner to the bench in the defeat to Gladbach, but the former Chelsea striker should lead the line in place of Andre Silva at the weekend, although Yussuf Poulsen has finally returned from injury and may come into consideration from the outset as a more physical presence.

Likewise, Xaver Schlager may displace Amadou Haidara in midfield, but with few options to choose from in defence, the same back four almost picks itself.

Bochum, meanwhile, will certainly travel without Takuma Asano due to a serious knee injury, while Jacek Goralski, Dominique Heintz, Kostas Stafylidis and Paul Grave are all doubtful due to muscular issues.

Tim Oermann has been suffering with illness and is therefore unlikely to make the trip to Leipzig either, with Erhan Masovic likely to replace him at the heart of the defence.

Letsch favoured a back-five formation during the majority of his time at Vitesse, so Christian Gamboa could tuck inside as a right-sided centre-back, with Jordi Osei-Tutu providing greater width down that flank.

RB Leipzig possible starting lineup:

Gulasci; Henrichs, Orban, Gvardiol, Raum; Kampl, Schlager; Szoboszlai, Forsberg, Nkunku; Werner

VfL Bochum possible starting lineup:

Riemann; Osei-Tutu, Gamboa, Masovic, Ordets, Soares; Losilla, Osterhage, Holtmann; Hofmann, Zoller

We say: RB Leipzig 2-0 VfL Bochum

Bochum should be better organised and more motivated in Letsch's first game in charge of them, but we are struggling to see beyond a comfortable home win.

After an unconvincing start to the campaign, Leipzig know that they need to start winning more matches sooner rather than later, and are unlikely to pass up a golden opportunity on Saturday.

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