Initial Observations
By beating Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday, VfL Bochum will try to stay in the Bundesliga and avoid being demoted. The opposition needs a total of three points to guarantee a sixth-place finish and qualification for the 2019-20 European football season. Bochum is in grave danger of dropping back to the nation’s second tier if they fail to defeat Leverkusen on Saturday, despite having easily survived in their inaugural campaign back in the Bundesliga in more than ten years last time. Bochum looked destined to lose to bottom-dwelling Hertha Berlin last weekend at the Olympiastadion after defeating their relegated rivals Augsburg 3-2 in an important match, but Keven Schlotterbeck’s injury-time equalizer saved the day and sent their opponents to the bottom division.
However, a point would only be enough to lift them out of the bottom three if Stuttgart lost to Hoffenheim and Schalke. Thomas Letsch will be confident that the boisterous home crowd can carry his team to victory this weekend. However, the club will keep will be keeping a close eye on events somewhere else to see the manner in which the visitors are faring towards the bottom of the table. Also Read:Bayern Looking For Lewandowski Replacement, Rope In Osimhen
Leverkusen Team News
Meanwhile, owing to suspension, Kerem Demirbay and Piero Hincapie will not be traveling with Leverkusen. The previous time out against Borussia Monchengladbach, Demirbay collected his fifth warning of the year, while Hincapie was given his third red card of the year and will now also miss the first two games of the following season. Odilon Kossounou, Robert Andrich, Karim Bellarabi, Patrik Schick, and Charles Aranguiz have all been ruled out due to injuries; as a result, Hincapie and Demirbay will be replaced by Timothy Fosu-Mensah and Nadiem Amiri, respectively, from the start.
Bochum Team News
Philipp Forster, Konstantinos Stafylidis, Mohammed Tolba, and Patrick Osterhage are expected to miss the game for Bochum owing to injuries, and Letsch is likely to give Schlotterbeck the start in defense after his goal-scoring performance last time out. Erhan Masovic would then go to a holding midfield position, freeing up Kevin Stoger and Anthony Losilla to assist the front three as they look to score the goals that Bochum may need to stay in Germany’s top division.
Predicted Lineup and Score
VfL Bochum’s possible starting lineup: Riemann; Janko, Ordets, Schlotterbeck, Heintz; Stoger, Masovic, Losilla; Asano, Hofmann, Antwi-Adjei
Bayer Leverkusen’s possible starting lineup: Hradecky; Tapsoba, Tah, Fosu-Mensah; Frimpong, Palacios, Amiri, Bakker; Diaby, Wirtz, Adli
Scores Leverkusen: Bochum
3:1
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