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Bochum host Borussia Dortmund in their first North Rhine-Westphalia derby in over a decade this Saturday when the sides clash in the Bundesliga.
After a 10-year hiatus, Die Unabsteigbaren returned to the German top-flight in the summer after gaining promotion from 2. Bundesliga.
They're currently 10th in the standings with 19 points from 14 games, winning six, as Thomas Reis' side have surpassed all expectations thus far.
Dortmund will play their shortest away trip of the season with Vonovia-Ruhrstadion barely 17 kms away from Signal Iduna Park.
Der BVB bounced back from a 3-2 loss to Bayern Munich in last weekend's Der Klassiker with a 5-0 drubbing of Besiktas in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Bochum vs Borussia Dortmund Head-To-Head
Borussia Dortmund have 10 of their last 22 clashes with Bochum, who've beaten them only five times during this period.
This will be their first league meeting since January 2014, when Der BVB secured a resounding 4-1 victory in the same fixture.
Bochum Form Guide (all competitions): W-W-L-W-L
Borussia Dortmund Form Guide (all competitions): W-L-W-L-W
Bochum vs Borussia Dortmund Team News
Bochum
In his press conference, head coach Thomas Reis has confirmed that Simon Zoller, Danny Blum, Eduard Löwen, Takuma Asano, Saulo Decarli and Tom Weilandt are not available.
But on the bright side, Manuel Riemann has returned from injury and completed full training, meaning he'll feature in the matchday squad.
Injured: Simon Zoller, Danny Blum, Eduard Löwen, Takuma Asano, Saulo Decarli, Tom Weilandt
Suspended: None
Unavailable: None
Borussia Dortmund
Head coach Marco Rose hinted at his press conference that Thorgan Hazard and Julian Brandt could return to the squad.
Manuel Akanji, Roman Burki, Marwin Hitz, Mateu Morey, Marcel Schmelzer and Youssoufa Moukoko are all out.
Donyell Malen is ill and could miss out while Gio Reyna and Thomas Meunier are doubts for the game.
Injured: Manuel Akanji, Roman Burki, Marwin Hitz, Mateu Morey, Marcel Schmelzer, Youssoufa Moukoko
Doubtful: Thorgan Hazard, Julian Brandt, Thomas Meunier, Gio Reyna
Suspended: None
Unavailable: Donyell Malen
Bochum vs Borussia Dortmund Predicted XI
Bochum (4-3-3): Manuel Riemann; Konstantinos Stafylidis, Erhan Masovic, Vasilis Lampropoulos, Danilo Soares; Raman Chibsah, Anthony Losilla, Elvis Rexhbecaj; Tarsis Bonga, Sebastian Polter, Gerrit Holtmann.
Borussia Dortmund (4-1-3-2): Gregor Kobel; Marius Wolf; Mats Hummels, Dan-Axel Zagadou, Raphaël Guerreiro; Emre Can; Julian Brandt, Mahmoud Dahoud, Jude Bellingham; Erling Haaland, Marco Reus.
Bochum vs Borussia Dortmund Prediction
Bochum have made a decent return to the Bundesliga and are eagerly looking forward to meeting their old rivals.
As much as they'd like to cause an upset, Dortmund have a really good squad on paper and should be able to secure all three points here.
Prediction: Bochum 0-2 Borussia Dortmund
