Relegation-threatened FC Koln are two places behind VfL Bochum in the Bundesliga table heading into Saturday's gameweek 28 fixture at RheinEnergieStadion.
Seven points separate both clubs before this weekend's clash, underlining the importance of a home victory for a side keen to suck their opponent into the relegation fight.
Match preview
© Reuters
Koln may be winless in seven league games, but beating Bochum is imperative to helping themselves in the battle for survival.
The Billy Goats (19 points) are a point adrift of Mainz occupying the relegation playoff spot, but their position is more precarious with Bochum (26) and Wolfsburg (28) threatening to be out of reach in the concluding weeks of the season.
Letting go of Steffen Baumgart for Timo Schultz has yet to bear much fruit, with the incumbent's only win coming in a 2-0 triumph over Eintracht Frankfurt at the start of February, emphasising the second-bottom club's desperate situation.
An 11th-placed finish last term has given way to battling survival, and it remains to be seen if the club, with only three victories at this stage, find the required wins to beat survival in the coming gameweeks.
Three wins are Koln's lowest after 27 matches in any Bundesliga season, the club's lowest at this stage, and the fact that no team has beat the drop from this position is a portend for the second-bottom club's survival prospects.
© Reuters
Visiting RheinEnergieStadion on Saturday, keen to avoid defeat at Koln, are Bochum, who hope to maintain their seven-point lead over their hosts.
Die Blauen have a seven-point buffer in the relegation battle that allows them to lose two matches and stay outside the bottom two positions, but that could easily be wiped out in the campaign's final weeks.
Despite Koln's below-par form, Bochum's results have been underwhelming since January, leading to their slide in the standings and ongoing battle to avoid relegation.
While Thomas Letsch's men have got the better of Stuttgart (1-0) and Bayern Munich (3-2) since the turn of the year, results in other games have put Die Blauen in their current position, with a four-match losing sequence damaging.
Given their pitiful away record — one victory in 13 this term, the league's joint-worst (seven points) — you can forgive the travelling fans for bracing themselves for another disappointing outcome in Koln.
Team News
© Reuters
The hosts are without Justin Diehl (muscular), Luca Kilian (knee) and Mark Uth (knee) for Saturday's game.
Davie Selke (six) and Faride Alidou (four) have contributed to 10 of Koln's 21 goals, suggesting both players are pivotal to Saturday's outcome for the Billy Goats.
Michael Esser (knee), Niclas Thiede (broken finger) and Mohammed Tolba (knee) are unlikely to feature for Bochum because of different injury issues.
Takuma Asano and Kevin Stoger have netted six and five goals respectively for Bochum, the latter notching four times from penalties, and the midfielder will be on hand if the visitors are awarded another spot kick.
FC Koln possible starting lineup:
Schwabe; Thielmann, Hubers, Chabot, Finkgrafe; Alidou, Martel, Ljubicic, Kainz; Selke, Adamyan
VfL Bochum possible starting lineup:
Riemann; Passlack, Ordets, Schlotterbeck, Bernardo; Losilla, Osterhage, Stoger; Asano, Hofmann, Antwi-Adjei
We say: FC Koln 1-1 VfL Bochum
Saturday's game is somewhat tricky to call as the low-scoring hosts have been beaten in three consecutive home games, while the visitors have lost five of their last six games, halting that pitiful sequence last weekend against cellar-dwelling Darmstadt.
Thus, a draw could be on the cards when these out-of-form clubs battle at RheinEnergieStadion this weekend.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
