Bochum will look to record a third consecutive home win when they welcome RB Leipzig to the Vonovia Ruhrstadion on Saturday.
| Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images |
Bochum
Bochum went into the winter break on the back of a 2-0 home victory against Heidenheim. After beginning 2025 with an away defeat against Mainz, Bochum returned to the Vonovia Ruhrstadion for Wednesday’s clash with St. Pauli, with Philipp Hofmann netting the only goal of the game to guide his side to a second straight home win.
While they celebrated their second win of the season, Bochum are still languishing at the foot of the Bundesliga table, knowing they have significant work to do if they are to close the five-point gap to safety. They are now fully focused on Saturday’s game, with the hosts looking to claim three consecutive home league wins for the first time since the middle of the 2022-23 season. However, that may be easier said than done, especially as they have failed to win any of their last three meetings with Leipzig.
Team News
Bochum will have to assess Mats Pannewig and Tim Oermann ahead of Saturday’s fixture.
RB Leipzig
Leipzig have experienced a mixed start to 2025, having taken three points from their first two matches of the year. Die Roten Bullen claimed a 4-2 victory in last weekend’s home clash with Werder Bremen, before they fell to a narrow 1-0 loss in their midweek away meeting with Stuttgart. Benjamin Šeško saw his opener cancelled out by Jacob Bruun Larsen, before Nick Woltemade found the net to turn the game in Stuttgart’s favour. Matters got worse for Leipzig in the closing stages when Šeško and Loïs Openda were shown red cards in what proved to be a disappointing outing.
Marco Rose’s side remain in fourth position in the Bundesliga table, although they are now only one point clear of fifth-placed Stuttgart. Leipzig know they need to improve on their travels if they are to maintain their top-four spot, having lost four of their last five Bundesliga away matches. They may be able to take confidence from the fact they recorded a 4-1 victory on their most recent trip to the Vonovia Ruhrstadion in March 2024. They also got the better of Bochum in the reverse fixture in August when Antonio Nusa scored the decisive goal in a 1-0 victory.
Team News
Leipzig are expected to be without Xaver Schlager, Assan Ouédraogo, Castello Lukeba, Benjamin Henrichs and André Silva. Meanwhile, Šeško and Openda are both suspended after being sent off in midweek.
