Borussia Dortmund vs Bochum

Borussia Dortmund’s pursuit of another Bundesliga top-four finish continues at Signal Iduna Park against relegation-threatened Bochum.

It’s been a dream start to the new calendar year for top-four hopefuls Borussia Dortmund as they’ve recorded back-to-back league wins for the first time since mid-October while their direct rivals Stuttgart and Leipzig lost their matches. As the duo go head-to-head elsewhere, improving an underwhelming home record (W5, D2, L2) could fire ‘Die Borussen’ back into the top four. Bochum’s visit to Signal Iduna Park could be just what the doctor ordered, with Edin Terzic’s side winning two of their last three home league H2Hs by 2+ goals ‘to nil’ (L1). However, the recent H2H picture doesn’t look promising, with a 1-1 draw in the reverse fixture in August condemning Dortmund to a fourth winless game in their last six against Bochum (W2, D3, L1).

In the meantime, Bochum staged an upset in the previous round, eking out a 1-0 home win against top-four contenders Stuttgart to end a two-game winless league run (D1, L1) and steer eight points clear of the relegation zone. But the visitors have fared terribly on the road this season, picking up just one win on nine Bundesliga travels (D3, L5) while losing the last two by an aggregate score of 7-1. Defensive frailties saw Thomas Letsch’s side capitulate at least three times in both defeats, taking their tally to 24 away goals conceded, with only Darmstadt (25) lamenting a worse such record. It’s not like they’ve impressed on the other end of the pitch, netting a league-second-low six goals on the road thus far.