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

Union Berlin's outside title hopes almost certainly came to an end at the hands of Borussia Dortmund last weekend, while Bochum were dragged back into the relegation battle by Stuttgart.

Match preview

Although Union Berlin's hopes of winning the club's first ever major trophy have been dashed by defeats to Eintracht Frankfurt in the DFB-Pokal quarter-finals and Dortmund in the Bundesliga, Urs Fischer's side can still secure a landmark achievement in the form of Champions League qualification this season.

Die Eisernen looked to be coming away from Westfalenstadion with a point when Kevin Behrens cancelled out Donyell Malen's opener, but Youssoufa Moukoko kept his side two points behind Bayern Munich at the top of the table by coming off the bench to score a winner with 11 minutes of normal time remaining.

Even Fischer would not deny that the last few weeks have delivered plenty of disappointment for himself and his players, with a 6-3 aggregate defeat to their namesakes Union SG in the Europa League last-16 last month coming as something of a surprise given the contrast in quality between the German and Belgian leagues.

As such, the 57-year-old will be urging his players to keep their spirits up having performed above expectations yet again throughout this campaign, with their budget dwarfed by most of the sides around them in the table.

After missing out on Champions League qualification by a solitary point last season, that is not a scenario that they will want to see repeated next month, with RB Leipzig and Freiburg both chasing on their coat tails either side of the top four's dotted lines.

Bochum, meanwhile, are only marginally above completely different dotted lines themselves, with their 3-2 defeat at home to Stuttgart last weekend seeing their opponents move within three points of them in the table.

Thomas Letsch won his first five league games at home in charge after replacing Thomas Reis in Bochum's dugout last September, but three defeats in their last four matches at Vonovia-Ruhrstadion have hugely contributed to Die Unabsteigbaren failing to live up to their nickname by remaining firmly in the relegation picture.

With five of their last seven fixtures coming against sides currently occupying positions inside the Bundesliga's top 10, Bochum will be rueing missing a golden opportunity to put significant distance between themselves and the bottom three by losing to Stuttgart, especially having levelled the proceedings through Kevin Stoger's dispatched penalty two minutes before the hour mark.

Instead, Letsch's side appear likely to be embroiled in a serious battle between now and the end of the campaign, although after losing six of their opening seven games of the season that was always likely to be the case despite Letsch's hugely positive impact during his first few months in charge.

Union Berlin Bundesliga form:

L

D

D

W

W

L

Union Berlin form (all competitions):

D

L

W

W

L

L

VfL Bochum Bundesliga form:

L

L

W

W

D

L

Team News

Union Berlin will remain without Andras Schafer due to the Hungary midfielder's long-term foot injury, while Jerome Roussillon is still a doubt after missing his side's recent two defeats with a muscle strain.

Fischer could seek to bring more experience into his side in the form of Aissa Laidouni and club captain Christopher Trimmel, while Diogo Leite may also replace Paul Jaeckel at the heart of the hosts' defence.

Bochum, meanwhile, will travel without Cristian Gamboa due to an ongoing knee injury, while Anthony Losilla is suspended after receiving his fifth booking of the season during his side's defeat to Stuttgart last time out.

Stoger could drop into a deeper midfield role, with Philipp Forster coming into the side to operate between the lines, while Simon Zoller will hope to receive some minutes after returning from injury to be an unnamed substitute against Sebastian Hoeness's side.

Union Berlin possible starting lineup:

Ronnow; Doekhi, Knoche, Leite; Trimmel, Laidouni, Khedira, Haberer, Gieselmann; Becker, Behrens

VfL Bochum possible starting lineup:

Riemann; Stafylidis, Ordets, Masovic, Soares; Stoger, Osterhage; Asano, Forster, Antwi-Adjei; Hofmann

We say: Union Berlin 2-0 VfL Bochum

Union Berlin will be determined not to allow a couple of defeats to two of the Bundesliga's strongest teams potentially ruin their strong work throughout the season, and we expect a highly motivated performance from the hosts as a result.

Bochum have struggled to attain positive results on the road all season long and we do not expect Sunday's trip to the capital to be any different, with Letsch's side likely to be looking even more nervously over their shoulders given that Hertha Berlin and Schalke 04 face each other on Friday evening and will therefore close the gap one way or another.

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