Bundesliga
Josko Gvardiol and RB Leipzig want to put the European Cup exit firmly behind them on Saturday (kick-off: 15:30 CET) and put pressure on the Bundesliga leaders.
Latest
>>> Click here for the LIVE blog Bochum vs. Leipzig!
Bochum finally suffered a quadruple losing streak in Cologne last weekend as Kevin Stoeger and Erhan Masovic scored the club’s first league goals since early February in a 2-0 win. Nevertheless, Thomas Letsch’s team is still in the tightest relegation battles and is only three points ahead of bottom Hoffenheim. Letsch will have unpleasant memories of his first Bundesliga appearance against Leipzig in October, a 4-0 away defeat in which Timo Werner and Christopher Nkunku each scored twice. The Bochum coach, who previously worked alongside Marco Rose at Salzburg, has no new injury concerns as Christopher Antwi-Adjei is expected to shake off a minor thigh strain he sustained in Cologne. The hosts will continue to seek their sixth home win of the season and their first ever against Leipzig after losing eight in eight previous meetings.
Leipzig will be determined to record nine wins from nine against VfL not only to close the gap on Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund at the top of the Bundesliga, but also to recover from a sobering defeat by Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League recover league. Rose’s men defeated Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-0 last weekend, a result largely thanks to goalkeeper Janis Blaswich’s saved penalty to make it 0-0. Both Werner and Gvardiol made the goalscoring list last Saturday, as did Emil Forsberg for the fourth league game in a row. All three men should start again on Saturday, although Rose may adjust his formation to a 4-4-2 instead of a 4-3-3 starting Tuesday night. With top scorer Nkunku still missing, Andre Silva could get the nod alongside Werner in attack, while Kevin Kampl is an alternative for Konrad Laimer and Amadou Haidara in midfield.
Regard: Leipzig won 4-0 on Matchday 8
Match Statistics
- Masovic is Bochum’s highest second half Scorer with three goals. Only Philipp Hofmann has more for the season (seven).
- Bochum have picked up 16 of their 22 points at the Ruhrstadion this season, but have lost all three of their previous home ties against Leipzig.
- VfL conceded 22 goals from set pieces as a league-best, while Leipzig scored the most free-kick goals of any Bundesliga side in 2022/23 (52 per cent; 15 of 29).
- Leipzig have not lost this season when Werner has scored (seven goals in five wins and one draw).
- After Nkunku, Werner and Jean-Kevin Augustin, Forsberg is the fourth Leipziger to have scored in four consecutive Bundesliga games. However, he has failed to score in six meetings with Bochum – his longest meager streak against a team.
- Leipzig have accumulated 40 points in 19 Bundesliga games since Rose took office. Only Bayern did better during this period (41 points), with Leipzig having the best defense (20 goals conceded).
>>> Get Forsberg for 11.8 million for your fantasy team!
Likely teams
Bochum: Riemann – Stafylidis, Ordets, Masovic, Soares – Stöger, Losilla (c), Osterhage – Asano, Hofmann, Antwi-Adjei
Out of: Gamboa (knee), Grave (shoulder), Zoller (thigh)
Doubtful: –
Coaches: Thomas Letsch
Leipzig: Blaswich – Henrichs, Orban (c), Gvardiol, Raum – Szoboszlai, Laimer, Haidara, Forsberg – Silva, Werner
Out of: Diallo (knee), Gulacsi (knee), Nkunku (thigh), Schlager (ankle)
Doubtful: –
Coaches: Marco Rosa
Being the first to know about every Bundesliga goal is as easy as:
- Download the Bundesliga app
- Choose your favorite club
- Receive the fastest push notifications including goals, live data and line-ups!
