Werder Bremen face VFL Bochum in Bundesliga action as both teams look to bounce back from defeats last weekend.
A win for Die Grün-Weißen would see them move into the top half of the table as they currently sit 11th following consecutive 2-0 defeats to Borussia Dortmund and Eintracht Frankfurt.
Bochum are suffering from the dreaded "second-season syndrome" as after finishing 13th upon their return to Germany's top flight last year, they are just two points clear of the relegation zone in 16th.
Manager Thomas Letsch, who took over for Thomas Reis last September, suffered his first defeat at home when Die Unabsteigbaren were beaten 2-0 by SC Freiburg.
This has been a matchup dominated by Werder Bremen as the Die Grun-Weisen are unbeaten in their last five matches against VfL Bochum going back to 2008.
Team news
There is a significant amount of players out for the hosts as Tim-Justin Dietrich (knee), Dikenki Salifou (calf) and Mitchell Weiser join Jean-Manuel Mbom and Felix Agu on the sidelines.
Marvin Duksch (migrane) and Christian Gross are both doubts after suffering from illness in recent days while Niklas Stark picked up his fifth yellow card of the season and is suspended for this clash.
Amos Pieper is likely to take Stark's place and Maximilian Philipp, who joined on loan from Wolfsburg last month, could deputize if Ducksch isn't able to recover in time.
Anthony Losilla was shown a straight red card against Freiburg and is set to miss the next two matches which will give Pierre Kunde the chance to re-establish himself in the middle of the park.
Simon Zoller, Gerrit Holtmann, Michael Esser and Cristian Gamboa have all been ruled out while Danilo Soares and Kevin Stoger have come down with illness and their availability is in doubt.
Philipp Forster could be an option to replace Zoller should he be unavailable.
Likely line-ups
Werder Bremen: Pavlenka; Pieper, Friedl, Veljkovic; Jung, Stage, Groß, Gruev, Bittencourt; Füllkrug, Philipp
VfL Bochum: Riemann; Soares, Schlotterbeck, Ordets, Janko; Antwi-Adjei, Osterhage, Kunde, Stöger, Förster; Hofmann
Key players
Niclas Fullkrug (Werder Bremen)
The 30-year-old striker is by far Bremen's most dangerous goal threat, having found the back of the net 13 times in 20 league appearances, but he hasn't scored since netting a brace against Wolfsburg on January 28th.
Fullkrug's goal output this season has surpassed his total in the last two top-flight campaigns for Die Grun-Weisen when he had ten.
Philipp Hofmann (VfL Bochum)
Hofmann was brought in from second-division side Eintracht Braunschweig and has topped Bochum scoring charts with seven goals in addition to two assists while appearing in 18 league games so far.
The 29-year-old has carried over his impressive form from the league below after scoring 95 times in 207 appearances for six different clubs.
Match facts
Where is the match being played?
The legendary Weserstadion, home to Werder Bremen since 1947 will host this match.
What time is the match?
Kick-off is set for 3:30pm Bremen time.
How can I watch the match?
The match will not be available for UK viewers but ESPN + will have all of the action on their streaming service for US viewers.
You can also follow all the Bundesliga news and views right here on VAVEL.