Bochum vs. Köln preview: Bochum look to record first league home win
This relegation six-pointer will pip two struggling sides against each other and both have gained recent uplifting form ahead of a must-win game on Saturday in the WWK Arena.
Bochum
Bochum won a vital three points against Darmstadt last week in a smash-and-grab 2-1 win fuelled by a Takuma Asano double. They are unbeaten in their last two league games and have a chance to win back-to-back games for the first time in the Bundesliga since March.
However, their home record is the joint-worst in the league and they are the only team in the Bundesliga yet to win at home this season. Both Bochum and Köln have been low-scoring this season, however, with the teams sitting in the bottom two for goals scored this season.
After the Darmstadt game, manager Thomas Letsch described Bochum's last game against Darmstadt as "everything but a good footballing game" but he also insisted that he was pleased in the end with the result despite a shaky first 10 minutes.
Team News
Backup goalkeeper Michael Esser, midfielder Matus Berg and Mohammed Tolba are all out with knee injuries. Lys Mousset is out with injury and centre back Ivan Ordets is also out with a thigh injury. Both Moritz Römling and Christopher Antwi-Adjei are doubtful.
Köln
Köln created multiple chances last week against Augsburg but failed to take advantage of them in the 1-1 draw and with the leagues worst shot efficiency (having underperformed their xG by 6.6) they surely are hoping for their luck in front of goal to come good this Saturday.
Köln are in the same position as they were in last week where a win would take them out of the bottom two guaranteed. Both Jan Thielmann and Mark Uth returned against Augsburg last week and they should provide some greater attacking depth this Saturday despite both being unable to play the full 90 minutes.
After drawing against Augsburg last match day, manager Steffen Baumgart said, "It really bothers me that we don't win games. This is not what we wanted." Along with these comments, the Köln manager also stated reasons such as the lawn on the pitch as the problem which led to a lot of the injuries both this season and last.
Team News
Dejan Ljubicic will miss the game this weekend with illness and both Philipp Pentke and Jacob Christensen are out with a knee injury and a muscle problem respectively. Damion Downs is also doubtful.
