This weekend in the Bundesliga it’s bottom two sides face off as they both seek to lift themselves off the foot of the table.
Bochum play host to an improving Schalke side as they themselves try and move up from 17th position.
Schalke 04 have breathed life into their relegation dogfight with a run of five games unbeaten, including a third win of the season last week against VFB Stuttgart.
Bochum on the other hand haven’t picked up any points in their last four Bundesliga matches losing to Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, Freiburg and Werder Bremen last weekend.
The Royal Blues current head coach, Thomas Reis will be going back to his old stomping ground looking to prove a point as his ex-employers relieved him of his duties earlier in the season.
After getting The Blues promoted and keeping them up in their first season back in the Bundesliga the 49-year-old will feel harshly done by Bochum meaning he will have added incentive this weekend.
Team News
VfL Bochum
The home side will be without midfielder Anthony Losilla once again as he serves his second match of his three game ban after getting a red card in their recent defeat to Freiburg.
Speedy wide man Gerrit Holtmann will be unavailable as he recovers from a knee injury.
Paul Grave and Simon Zoller are the other two players, which won’t feature in this weekend’s relegation six-pointer through shoulder and thigh injuries respectively.
The Bundesliga’s bottom side have quite the injury list currently.
Danny Latza is out with a muscular injury while Liverpool loanee Sepp Van den Berg is recovering from an ankle injury.
Striker Sebastien Polter won’t be available to lead the line as he is out with a knee injury while fellow German Tim Skarke is out with a foot injury.
Justin Heekeren, Thomas Ouwejan and January signing Jere Uronen are all also unavailable through injury making Schalke’s recent form even more impressive.
Likely Lineups
VfL Bochum
Riemann, Janko, Ordets, Schlotterbeck, Stafylidis, Kunde, Stöger, Osterhage, Asano, Hofmann, Antwi-Adjei
Fährmann, Aydin, Yoshida, Jenz, Matriciani, Král, Krauß, Drexler, Zalazar, Bülter, Frey
Key Players
VfL Bochum: Christopher Antwi-Adjei
Christopher Antwi-Adjei has been a key outlet for the Bundesliga’s strugglers this season providing six assists so far, the most in the squad.
He has also scored two Bundesliga goals but if Bochum are to stay up this season they will be looking for the German to add goals to his game.
At 29-year-old he is one of the older members of the squad and this experience will be needed in the remainder of this relegation fight.
Schalke 04: Maya Yoshida
Schalke went over six hours without conceding a goal before they conceded Borna Sosa’s strike for Stuttgart at the weekend and this was largely due to their veteran defender Maya Yoshida marshalling the defence.
The Japanese international only came in during the summer but is already captaining his side due to his vast Premier League experience with Southampton.
The Royal Blues are already looking to extend his contract with the 34-year-old having an option to extend his contract by a year at the end of the season.
His partnership with new addition Moritz Jenz has been crucial to the side’s recent up turn in form and the away side will need the ever-present Japanese centre-back to be on top form once again this weekend.
Match Details
Where is the game being played?
This gameweek 23 match is being played at the Vonovia Ruhrstadion home of VfL Bochum.
What time is kick-off?
Kick-off for this weekend’s match is scheduled to be at 14:30 GMT.
How can I watch?
The match won’t be available for UK viewers but fans in the US will be able to watch the game live on ESPN+.