Preview: VfL Bochum vs. Eintracht Frankfurt - prediction, team news, lineups

The final fixture of matchday nine in the Bundesliga takes place at the Vonovia Ruhrstadion on Sunday evening, with VfL Bochum hosting Eintracht Frankfurt.

The hosts have struggled on their return to the top flight so far this campaign, but climbed out of the relegation places last weekend after earning a vital victory, whilst their visitors lost on their return from the international break before bouncing back in Europe on Thursday.

Match preview

© Reuters

Prior to last weekend, Bochum found themselves second-from-bottom in the Bundesliga table, only avoiding last place thanks to the struggles of their fellow newly-promoted side Greuther Furth as well.

Four points from the opening seven matches, with only four goals scored, meant it had been a reality check for Die Unabsteigbaren since their fantastic but unexpected achievement of promotion last campaign.

However, a vital 1-0 victory at Greuther last Saturday has lifted the spirits around the camp and provided belief throughout the club that they can in fact avoid an immediate return to the 2.Bundesliga along with their opponents.

It was far from pretty at the Trolli-Arena but the three points were what mattered most, which were provided by captain Anthony Losilla's goal in the final 10 minutes.

Due to the different divisions that they have found themselves in, this is Bochum's first meeting with Frankfurt in over eight years, but manager Thomas Reis will be hoping his side can put their poor record against their visitors right on Sunday.

Five straight defeats have been suffered against their opponents between 2009 and 2013, and Reis knows his side will have to put in as good a performance as last weekend in order to earn a positive result.

© Reuters

As for Frankfurt, they have finally begun to turn draws into victories under their new boss Oliver Glasner.

In the former Wolfsburg boss's first eight competitive fixtures, Die Adler lost two before drawing six on the bounce in all competitions, without scoring or conceding more than once during that six-game spell.

The loss of last season's top goalscorer Andre Silva to RB Leipzig has certainly been a factor, along with the loss of manager Adi Hutter to Borussia Monchengladbach in the summer.

However, three wins from their last four matches domestically and across Europe mean Frankfurt can start to look up again rather than over their shoulders, with last season's fifth-placed side currently struggling down in 14th at the time of writing.

For a side that usually finds itself in and around the European places, improvement will be expected of the new boss, although recent results, which included a shock 2-1 triumph against reigning champions Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena, show there are signs of that already being in place.

Unfortunately for Frankfurt, they failed to follow that exceptional victory at Bayern up with another, instead falling to a poor 2-1 defeat at home to Hertha Berlin on their return from the international break last weekend.

Goncalo Paciencia's late penalty was only a consolation during the disappointing display, before Glasner's men bounced back with a solid 3-1 victory over Olympiakos in the Europa League on Thursday evening.

Team News

© Reuters

Bochum will be without four first-team players on Sunday, with Robert Tesche, Simon Zoller, Herbert Bockhorn and Maxim Leitsch all missing out for the visit of Frankfurt.

After earning two goals and two assists in the opening four matches, Zoller will be the biggest miss for manager Reis, who has been ruled out until next year due to an ACL injury.

The remaining trio are expected back within the next couple of weeks, but the hosts will undoubtedly be weaker without them at the weekend.

Meanwhile, Frankfurt will welcome back Erik Durm for this one, with the versatile German fit again after a recent absence caused by concussion.

Christopher Lenz and Aymen Barkok will be unavailable, though, with the duo ruled out for another couple of weeks due to leg and hip injuries respectively.

VfL Bochum possible starting lineup:
Riemann; Gamboa, Masovic, Lampropoulos, Soares; Losilla, Lowen, Rexhbecaj; Pantovic, Polter, Holtmann

Eintracht Frankfurt possible starting lineup:
Trapp; Toure, N'Dicka, Hinteregger; Durm, Jakic, Sow, Kostic; Kamada, Santos Borre, Paciencia

We say: VfL Bochum 1-2 Eintracht Frankfurt

The upturn in recent results is likely to have brought the confidence back to this Frankfurt side, which means that their quality should shine through against their newly-promoted and struggling hosts on Sunday.

Bochum will certainly not allow it to be comfortable or easy for their visitors, but they may struggle against this calibre of opponent so a narrow away victory is our prediction for this one.