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

The hosts, meanwhile, moved outside of the Bundesliga's relegation places by beating FC Koln last weekend.

Match preview

Indeed, given that they had lost 11 of their 12 away matches in the league prior to their trip to Cologne, very few people would have given Bochum much chance of avoiding defeat against Steffen Baumgart's side, let alone returning to Bochum with all three points.

However, courtesy of Kevin Stoger's dispatched penalty and Erhan Masovic's late nerve-settler, that is exactly what Thomas Letsch's side achieved as they won on the road for only the second time this campaign.

Despite losing their last two home games to Freiburg and relegation rivals Schalke 04, Die Unabsteigbaren have generally been very strong at Vonovia-Ruhrstadion since Letsch was appointed as manager in late September, winning each of their first five home games under the 54-year-old's tutelage.

As such, he and his players will be confident of securing an upset against their forthcoming opponents, whose confidence is likely to have taken a battering by the extent of their defeat in Europe on Tuesday.

While progressing away to the English Premier League champions was always going to be an incredibly tall order despite holding the Citizens to a 1-1 draw at home in the first leg, Marco Rose would have been stunned by his side's collapse at the Etihad Stadium.

Die Roten Bullen simply could not cope with their former nemesis Erling Braut Haaland, who scored three braces in four appearances against Leipzig during his time at Borussia Dortmund, with the 22-year-old bagging himself a hat-trick before the half-time whistle had been blown.

The Norway forward added two more goals to his name after the break in between strikes from former Bundesliga stars Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne, with Leipzig set to turn their attentions to the domestic front between now and the end of the campaign.

Rose's side find themselves within the Champions League qualification positions on goal difference ahead of Union Berlin and Freiburg, with a home tie against Dortmund in the DFB-Pokal quarter-final awaiting them after the upcoming international break.

It is clearly a crunch time in the season for Rose and his players, then, who will not want to waste the undoubted progress that they have made since the 46-year-old was appointed in early September. An away win against a genuine relegation candidate on Saturday would set them back on track.

VfL Bochum Bundesliga form:

W

L

L

L

L

W

VfL Bochum form (all competitions):

L

L

L

L

L

W

RB Leipzig Bundesliga form:

D

L

W

W

L

W

RB Leipzig form (all competitions):

W

D

W

L

W

L

Team News

Bochum will remain without Paul Grave, Cristian Gamboa and Simon Zoller due to injury, but Danilo Soares and Michael Esser should be available for selection despite recently suffering with illness.

Letsch is unlikely to make any changes to his starting XI after securing an impressive away win against Koln last time out, meaning that Gerrit Holtmann and Philipp Forster will have to be patient once again after being unused substitutes in Cologne.

Leipzig, meanwhile, will travel without Christopher Nkunku, Peter Gulasci, Abdou Diallo and Xaver Schlager due to existing injury problems, but Dani Olmo has made his own comeback to appear from the bench in his side's last two matches and could be an option to start.

However, after swatting Borussia Monchengladbach aside in their last league match, Rose may revert to the starting XI from the 3-0 victory, meaning that Andre Silva will return to lead the line after being left out in Manchester.

VfL Bochum possible starting lineup:

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

RB Leipzig possible starting lineup:

Blaswich; Henrichs, Orban, Gvardiol, Raum; Laimer, Haidara; Szoboszlai, Forsberg, Werner; Silva

We say: VfL Bochum 0-2 RB Leipzig

Bochum seem to have lost their air of invincibility on home territory in recent weeks with two successive 2-0 defeats at Vonovia-Ruhrstadion, and we can envisage a repeat scoreline on Saturday.

Leipzig will be determined to bounce back from their thrashing in Europe in midweek to ensure that their top four hopes remain in their own hands heading into the final stretch of the season.

Previews by email