Vincent Kompany's Bayern Munich will hope to bounce back from their Champions League humiliation against Barcelona when they travel to face VfL Bochum at Vonovia Ruhrstadion on Sunday in the Bundesliga.
Managerless Bochum are last in 18th place with just one point after seven matches and are already six points from automatic safety, while Bayern are first with 17 points from their seven league games and are one of two unbeaten teams left in the top flight.
Match preview
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The hosts lost 3-1 against Hoffenheim last time out on October 19 and only scored once despite producing nearly three xG, as well as creating five big chances.
Bochum have in fact created the joint 11th most big chances in the league, but they have only netted eight times, the second-fewest in the division.
Peter Zeidler was on the touchline against Hoffenheim as manager, but he was sacked on Sunday, with Markus Feldhoff and Murat Ura taking charge of the club on an interim basis.
The pair take over a team that have not won any of their eight most recent competitive games, losing seven and drawing one in that period.
Bochum have also lost 14 of their last 19 Bundesliga matches and have been defeated in five, drawn three and won just one of their last nine fixtures at home in the league.
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Meanwhile, Bayern come into the clash having lost 4-1 against Hansi Flick's Barcelona on Wednesday, a match in which Raphinha managed to score a hat-trick and former Bavarian Robert Lewandowski also netted.
Kompany said in the aftermath of the defeat that there were no excuses for his side's performance, and he did not disagree with the notion that his team were set up far too offensively.
The result means that Bayern have now lost two of their three Champions League games and are in 23rd place in the table.
The Bavarians are first in the Bundesliga and to their credit, they have faced champions Bayer Leverkusen, Eintracht Frankfurt and last season's runners-up Stuttgart in their last three league games and come away undefeated.
Bayern beat Stuttgart 4-0 on October 19 in their most recent top-flight outing, with Harry Kane netting three times in a rampant display.
The visitors have won three and drawn one of their last four away Bundesliga matches, scoring 17 goals but conceding on six occasions in that time.
Team News
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Bochum will be without Manuel Riemann, who remains suspended from training with the first team after a fallout with the club over playing time at the end of the 2023-24 season.
Bernardo is also expected to miss out until late November due to a knee injury, while Matus Bero and Myron Boadu are not scheduled to return until next month.
Ivan Ordets and Erhan Medic could start as centre-backs behind a midfield three of Dani de Wit, Ibrahim Sissoko and Anthony Losilla.
Considering Bayern's humiliating defeat against Barcelona, Kompany is likely to pick a strong starting XI in order to bounce back as quickly as possible.
However, he will have to contend with the absences of Aleksandar Pavlovic and Sacha Boey until December, while Hiroki Ito and Josip Stanisic are not likely to feature until the middle of November.
Dayot Upamecano and Kim Min-jae are almost certain to start in the heart of defence, and Joshua Kimmich may be joined in midfield by Joao Palhinha.
VfL Bochum possible starting lineup:
Drewes; Passlack, Medic, Ordets, Masovic, Wittek; De Wit, Losilla, Sissoko; Broschinski, Miyoshi
Bayern Munich possible starting lineup:
Neuer; Guerreiro, Upamecano, Kim, Davies; Kimmich, Palhinha; Olise, Musiala, Gnabry; Kane
We say: VfL Bochum 0-5 Bayern Munich
Bayern have been rampant goalscorers of late, and it would not be surprising if they won by multiple goals on Sunday.
Additionally, given Bochum do not yet have a permanent replacement for Zeidler, the hosts may not struggle to perform to their maximum.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Lewis Nolan
