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With the festive season over, domestic football returns to Germany and will see Bochum host Wolfsburg in the 18th game week of the Bundesliga.
Bochum were beaten 1-0 by Union Berlin last time out, marking a second straight defeat and goalless outing. The hosts had made major strides in the league competition after an abysmal run earlier in the season and will now be looking to get their season back on track.
Die Unabsteigbaren sit 12th in the league table with 20 points from 17 games. They will be looking to get back to winning ways when they host Wolfsburg at the weekend.
The visitors are in even worse form than their hosts and are dropping down the league table rapidly. They were beaten 4-0 by defending champions Bayern Munich in their last game, a seventh straight defeat across all competitions and eighth without a win.
Wolfsburg are level on points with their weekend hosts but sit a place below in the table due to an inferior goal difference. They are just three points above the drop zone and will be looking to widen that gap on Saturday.
Bochum vs Wolfsburg Head-to-Head
There have been 18 meetings between Bochum and Wolfsburg. The home side have won seven of those games while the visitors have won one more. There have been three draws between the two sides.
The two teams last faced off in the opening week of this Bundesliga campaign. Wolfsburg won the game 1-0.
Bochum Form Guide: L-L-D-W-W
Wolfsburg Form Guide: L-L-L-L-L
Bochum vs Wolfsburg Team News
Bochum
Saulo Decarli and Simon Zoller are both injured and will miss Sunday's game. Danny Blum is a major doubt for the game as he recovers from injury. Konstantinos Stafylidis is unavailable for selection as he has been excluded from the squad after contracting COVID in his home country of Greece while Erhan Masovic is suspended.
Injured: Saulo Decarli, Simon Zoller
Doubtful: Danny Blum
Unavailable: Konstantinos Stafylidis
Suspended: Erhan Masovic
Wolfsburg
Admir Mehmedi, Lukas Nmecha, Xaver Schlager, Marvin Stefaniak, Paulo Otavio and William are all injured and will not play against Bochum. Dodi Lukebakio, Daniel Ginczek and Aster Vranckx have not been included in the squad after contracting COVID.
Injured: Admir Mehmedi, Lukas Nmecha, Xaver Schlager, Marvin Stefaniak, Paulo Otavio, William
Unavailable: Dodi Lukebakio, Daniel Ginczek, Aster Vranckx
Suspended: None
Bochum vs Wolfsburg Predicted XI
Bochum Predicted XI (4-3-3): Manuel Riemann; Cristian Gamboa, Maxim Leitsch, Vasilis Lampropoulos, Danilo Soares; Milos Pantovic, Anthony Losilla, Elvis Rexhbecaj; Takuma Asano, Sebastian Polter, Gerrit Holtmann
Wolfsburg Predicted XI (4-3-3): Koen Casteels; John Brooks, Maxence Lacroix, Sebastiaan Bornauw, Jerome Roussillon; Josuha Guilavogui, Maximilian Arnold, Yannick Gerhardt; Renato Steffen, Luca Waldschmidt, Wout Weghorst
Bochum vs Wolfsburg Prediction
Bochum have now lost back-to-back games and have failed to score any goals in both games. They had lost that same number of games in their nine prior outings.
Wolfsburg are currently on a run of seven straight losses across all competitions, their worst streak since they achieved promotion back in 1997. The side seem to have lost all confidence and may have to settle for a point at the weekend.
Prediction: Bochum 1-1 Wolfsburg
