Bochum vs. Union Berlin preview: Relegation favorites face league leaders
Bochum will try for their second home Bundesliga win in a row, but have a difficult task at hand with Urs Fischer's well-organized side coming to town.
| Photo: Steffen Prößdorf, CC BY-SA 4.0 |
VfL Bochum
After a shocking 3-0 victory over Frankfurt a couple weeks ago, Bochum fell back down to Earth last weekend in their loss to Stuttgart. However, they did advance to the DFB-Pokal round of 16 with a narrow win over Elversberg this week.
The last time the 18th-place team defeated the league leaders dates all the way back to 2016, which doesn't exactly favor Bochum. Thomas Letsch's side have only scored nine goals thus far and have allowed 27 into the back of their net.
Luckily, Bochum have several players returning from injury, but most onlookers still believe they need a miracle to avoid a looming relegation. A win against the 'giants' of Union Berlin would do wonders for the cause.
Letsch stated: "Union are currently the measure of all things, not only in the table. They allow little and are very effective. That's a big challenge. We have to be nasty. If we can do that, we also have the chance to get something."
Team News
Paul Grave, Takuma Asano and Jacek Goralski are out, while Kostas Stafylidis and Bruno Esser will be available.
Union Berlin
Union have incredibly allowed just six goals through ten games in league play. Urs Fischer's back three continues to plague opponents who simply cannot find a way through.
The midfield is stable, while the front two of Sheraldo Becker and Jordan have been a joy to watch. The capital club are coming off a Pokal victory over Heidenheim and have won every match they've played in the last three weeks.
Jordan was unavailable midweek, but he is expected to return to the pitch on Sunday. Union would move four points clear of Bayern with another win.
Fischer commented that, "(Bochum's) win against Frankfurt before (Matchday 10) was also a strong indication that we have to go to our limits, as always. There are no easy games any more, and the standings don't matter. So we have to expect an intense match that we have to approach with full seriousness."
Team News
Union should have a full squad ready and fit for Matchday 11.