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

Wolfsburg, meanwhile, returned to winning ways against RB Leipzig last weekend.

Match preview

Bochum continued to be a tough side to beat when travelling to newly promoted Heidenheim last Sunday, as Thomas Letsch's side claimed their seventh draw in 12 games by playing out a goalless stalemate at Voith-Arena.

In a scrappy encounter with more yellow cards (seven) brandished than shots on target (five) accumulated between the two sides, sharing the spoils was probably a fair outcome between two teams who will expect to be involved in a relegation battle this season.

Bochum have marginally survived in each of the last two seasons following their promotion from the second tier in 2021, and claiming 10 points from 12 matches has proven enough to keep them two points and two positions ahead of the relegation zone heading into this weekend's action.

However, their win against SV Darmstadt 98 remains their only victory all season, meaning Letsch and his players will be determined to claim their first win in front of their home fans at Vonovia-Ruhrstadion when they face Wolfsburg this weekend.

That said, Wolfsburg will arrive in Bochum with renewed confidence after getting the better of Leipzig for the second time this season. Goals from Jonas Wind and Rogerio proved enough to move Niko Kovac's side back into the top half of the table.

Leipzig had looked set to come from behind and claim all three points at the Volkswagen Arena when Yussuf Poulsen - who was sent off during his side's defeat to Wolfsburg in the DFB-Pokal in late October - equalised seven minutes after the break, but Rogerio's strike claimed an extremely hard-fought victory for his side.

The Wolves had claimed just one point from their previous five league games, so it was a much needed result for Kovac and his players. They will have their eyes fixed on remaining on course for securing the club's first piece of silverware in almost a decade when they travel to Monchengladbach in midweek at the last-16 stage of Germany's domestic cup.

However, in the meantime, they have it all to prove that they can win when the onus is on them to attack against a team beneath them in the table. Having lost each of their five away trips in the Bundesliga, Kovac will be desperate to put an end to that dismal run on Saturday.

VfL Bochum Bundesliga form:

D

L

D

W

D

D

Wolfsburg Bundesliga form:

L

L

L

D

L

W

Wolfsburg form (all competitions):

L

L

W

D

L

W

Advert - content below:

Team News

Bochum's struggles to pick up wins are not being helped by a serious injury crisis at the club, with Tim Oermann, Danilo Soares, Moritz Romling, Ivan Ordets, Jordi Osei-Tutu, Matus Bero, Michael Esser, Lys Mousset and Mohammed Tolba all expected to miss out on Saturday.

As such, Letsch has very few options at his disposal to make any changes to the team which claimed a point away to Heidenheim last weekend, but Philipp Forster and Christopher Antwi-Adjei will be hoping for starting berths after appearing from the bench during that stalemate.

Wolfsburg, meanwhile, will remain without their talismanic striker Lukas Nmecha, who is expected to be out of action until the New Year after undergoing knee surgery earlier this year. Patrick Wimmer is also unavailable due to a ligament issue.

Sebastiaan Bornauw has joined them on the treatment table after sustaining a hamstring injury against Leipzig, with Moritz Jenz likely to replace him within the visitors' back three.

Joachim Maehle missed out on that victory due to illness, but the Denmark wing-back has a fight on his hands to win his starting place back after his replacement Rogerio bagged the winning goal.

VfL Bochum possible starting lineup:

Riemann; Gamboa, Masovic, Schlotterbeck, Bernardo; Osterhage, Losilla, Stoger; Forster, Hofmann, Asano

Wolfsburg possible starting lineup:

Casteels; Lacroix, Jenz, Zesiger; Baku, Svanberg, Vranckx, Rogerio; Cerny, Wind, Majer

We say: VfL Bochum 1-1 Wolfsburg

Bochum have drawn more than half of their matches this season, but their lack of wins means they have been unable to make significant progress in terms of moving up the table, despite becoming harder to beat.

Given that Wolfsburg have lost their last five away matches, we can envisage both managers settling for a point on Saturday, with attacking quality likely to be at a premium at Vonovia-Ruhrstadion.

Previews by email