Last weekend's 2-0 victory at Köln was monumental for Thomas Letsch and his Bochum side. After a run of four defeats in a row, it provided a glimmer of hope.

The win in the Cathedral city takes them onto 22 points and most importantly, two above the relegation zone. So with ten games to go, Bochum are still very much in with a chance of falling down the trap door.

They are part of one of the most enthralling relegation dogfights the Bundesliga has seen for many a year. The bottom five (Bochum, Hertha, Stuttgart, Schalke and Hoffenheim) are split by just three points while both Köln and Augsburg could get dragged in if they don't start picking up wins themselves.

As for Leipzig, they are looking to bounce back after being swiped aside in the Champions League by Manchester City in midweek and in particular, Erling Haaland. Their poor defensive performance didn't showcase the talent that Marco Rose has at his disposal.

However, in their most recent Bundesliga outing, a 3-0 victory over inconsistent Borussia Monchengladbach, the quality Leipzig have was much more evident for viewers to witness.

A trip to Bochum should give them the chance to consolidate their spot in the Champions League spots with a win. But Rose will hope this doesn't mean running into the Norwegian goal machine in next season's competition!

Team News

Bochum - Right-back Cristian Gamboa is ruled out with a knee injury while Simon Zoller is still out with a muscle problem. Filipino Gerrit Holtmann is almost ready to return after a knee injury of his own.

Leipzig - Saturday's visitors are without a number of key players : the influential Christopher Nkunku, Xaver Schlager, first-choice goalkeeper Peter Gulácsi and Amad Diallo are all missing. While Dani Olmo may only be fit for a spot on the subs bench.

Likely lineups

Bochum - Riemann; Stafylidis, Ordets, Masovic, Soares; Asano, Stöger, Losilla, Osterhage, Antwi-Adjej; Hofmann

Leipzig - Blaswich; Henrichs, Orbán, Gvardiol, Raum; Laimer, Haidara; Forsberg, Szoboszlai, Werner; Silva

Key players

Bochum - Serbian Erhan Masovic missed out on his country's World Cup squad with a thigh injury back in the Autumn. But the Bochum centre-back is making up for lost time.

He scored their second goal from a set-piece against Köln last Friday night and will be looking to keep an electric Leipzig attack out this time while attempting to be a threat on corners and free-kicks at the other end.

Masovic has now scored three goals this season, offering a weapon that is more necessary than for other outfits in the league. With his side, Bochum being the second lowest scorers across the division, only Schalke have scored less.

Leipzig - Dominik Szoboszlai is one of Europe's most exciting talents and is stepping up in Nkunku's absence. With the Frenchman moving onto Chelsea at the end of the campaign.

Leipzig will be hoping that the Hungarian can continue his emergence onto next season. He initially caught the eye at sister club, Salzburg with his spectacular free kick taking but Szoboszlai is showing a wider skillset in the Bundesliga.

The 22-year-old is on track to surpass his goal contributions from last year (14) with 12 in 22 games so far this campaign. Facing one of the league's weakest teams should be a fantastic opportunity to add some goals and assists to his tally.

Match details

Where is the game being played ?

The game is being played at the Ruhrstadion.

What time is kick-off ?

The game kicks-off at 14:30 GMT on Saturday.

How can I watch ?

The game is not available to watch in the United Kingdom but you can follow all the news, views and updates from Bundesliga right here on VAVEL.

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