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

Thomas Letsch, who was poached by Bochum from Vitesse Arnhem in September for his first managerial role in the Bundesliga, will pit his wits against Christian Streich, now in his 12th year in charge of Freiburg.

Match preview

The 13th Bundesliga match of Letsch's tenure ended in a routine but hardly humbling 3-0 defeat away to the division's perennial champions, Bayern Munich, last Saturday - unlike the 7-0 walloping the Bavarians dished out in August's reverse fixture.

Letsch, yet another coach in the German top flight that cut his teeth in Red Bull's vast stable of football clubs, has led a Bochum side which earned one point from the first seven games of the season out of the relegation zone - for now.

This impressive turnaround has been built on an intimidating run of form at the Ruhrstadion, with Bochum winning their last five Bundesliga matches at home, scoring 15 goals during this sequence.

Bochum have been able to climb up the table despite the devastatingly destructive streak of conceding penalties, gifting the opposition a 12th spot kick of the season against Bayern last weekend - the highest tally of penalty concessions in Europe's top five leagues.

The talismanic figure of Streich will be back on the bench - or, more accurately, wildly gesticulating in the technical area - after serving a one-match suspension for a pair of yellow cards he collected during Freiburg's previous away match, a 5-1 mauling at the hands of Borussia Dortmund.

Prior to the dismantling in Dortmund, Wolfsburg (6-0), RB Leipzig (3-1) and Bayern Munich (5-0) inflicted hefty defeats on Freiburg in four of their last five Bundesliga games away from the Black Forest.

Despite their recent struggles on the road, Freiburg go into the weekend sitting in the lofty reaches of fourth place, which would be the club's best Bundesliga finish since coming third in 1995, when Streich was still a player at city rivals Freiburger FC.

Streich's side may boast the joint-most clean sheets in the Bundesliga, but Bochum have scored in every single home match they have ever contested against Freiburg.

The reverse fixture in Freiburg ended 1-0 to the hosts, but both sides conspired to rattle off 43 shots on that August evening, the joint-most of any Bundesliga game all season.

VfL Bochum Bundesliga form:

W

W

L

L

W

L

VfL Bochum form (all competitions):

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L

L

W

L

L

Freiburg Bundesliga form:

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L

D

W

L

W

Freiburg form (all competitions):

L

D

W

L

W

W

Team News

Bochum are sweating over the availability of Philipp Forster and Erhan Masovic as the duo recover from a bout of illness.

The frequent substitute Gerrit Holtmann and experienced full-back Cristian Gamboa are scheduled to return from a pair of knee injuries in early March.

The understudy goalkeeper Michael Esser is not expected to retake his familiar spot on the bench until the end of February while he nurses a muscular problem.

Freiburg will be without Daniel-Kofi Kyereh for the remainder of the season after the 26-year-old ruptured his cruciate ligament during a training session this month.

Streich's lineups revolve around a core group of regulars, with six Freiburg players featuring in every league match this season - no other Bundesliga club can boast more than four.

VfL Bochum possible starting lineup:

Riemann; Janko, Ordets, Schlotterbeck, Stafylidis; Losilla, Kunde; Zoiler, Stoger, Antwi-Adjei; Hofmann

Freiburg possible starting lineup:

Flekken; Kubler, Ginter, Lienhart, Gunter; Eggestein, Hofler; Doan, Sallai, Grifo; Gregoritsch

We say: VfL Bochum 1-2 Freiburg

Bochum may have enjoyed home comforts of late, but a wider view of their form reveals four defeats in their previous five matches across all competitions and venues.

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