Dortmund vs. Bochum preview: Another Revierderby edition
Bochum face Dortmund on Matchday 13, desperately needing three points in a derby match at the Signal Iduna Park.
Borussia Dortmund
Many of BVB's usual starters were rested for their draw against Copenhagen midweek, as everything returns to normal this weekend. The 4th-place side are back on track in league play (for now) after a big win against Stuttgart and a narrow victory away to Frankfurt.
Jude Bellingham will undoubtedly return to the starting lineup, while Gregor Kobel and Mats Hummels aren't concerns after being removed at halftime on Wednesday with precaution. Kobel and Hummels have especially been in top form these past few weeks.
Both Marco Reus and Raphaël Guerreiro have returned to training and should be squad candidates on Saturday.
Edin Terzic stated, “The big goal is nine points from the last three games. We will have to look at the table for two months. It's about not losing sight of the goals and being in a good starting position in January."
Team News
The injury list includes Mateu Morey, Thomas Meunier, Marius Wolf, Tom Rothe, Mahmoud Dahoud, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens and Sebastien Haller.
Reus, Guerreiro, Kobel and Hummels are all expected to play. Referring to Reus and Guerreiro, Terzic did say, "I'm taking a very cautious approach."
VfL Bochum
Bochum have nine losses already and are far less convincing than last year's surprise team. Coach Thomas Letsch replaced Thomas Reis earlier this season and they did shock league leaders Union Berlin on Matchday 11.
But, the squad fell back down to Earth last week with a disastrous showing against Wolfsburg. Luckily, Schalke's poor play is giving Bochum some hope that they can climb their way out of the bottom by season's end.
Bochum are thin in defense and will rely heavily on striker Philipp Hofmann to put away one of his expected few chances this weekend. Manuel Riemann will surely have his hands full in goal.
In a press conference, Sporting Director Patrick Fabian said, "We still have three games ahead of us, three very important tasks. We want to score points. That is the focus. All the other issues will come later."
Team News
Marko Johansson, Paul Grave, Dominique Heintz, Jacek Goralski and Takuma Asano are out. Letsch confirmed that Vasilios Lampropoulos will start alongside Ivan Ordets in center defense.