Preview: Borussia Dortmund vs. VfL Bochum - prediction, team news, lineups

Borussia Dortmund will be aiming to make it three wins from three since returning from the winter break when they host VfL Bochum in the Bundesliga on Sunday.

The visitors, meanwhile, have gained four points from two matches this month to put significant distance between themselves and the relegation zone.

Match preview

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Indeed, the winter break appeared to arrive at the best possible moment for Dortmund, who had won just one of their eight league matches prior to Christmas. Yet they have returned with successive clean sheets and victories when comfortably scoring seven goals combined against SV Darmstadt 98 and FC Koln.

BVB were simply too good for struggling Koln, with Donyell Malen firing the visitors into the lead after just 12 minutes. Niclas Fullkrug converted a penalty 13 minutes after the break to double his side's lead, before further strikes from Malen and Youssoufa Moukoko settled the encounter.

However, Terzic will likely be reminding his players that their recent two opponents are both sitting inside the automatic relegation places ahead of this weekend's action. Koln also managed 19 shots and 13 corners, with Gregor Kobel making five saves to thwart Koln's growing pressure throughout the game.

That said, the 41-year-old will be absolutely delighted with his side's return to form, especially with Champions League qualification rivals Stuttgart and RB Leipzig both losing both of their fixtures so far in January. With those two sides facing each other on Saturday, a third straight victory for Dortmund will guarantee that they move inside the top four positions.

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While Bochum will clearly travel to Dortmund as massive underdogs to avoid defeat, Thomas Letsch's side are on course to survive relegation for the third consecutive campaign. The Blues ended their 11-year exile from the Bundesliga by lifting the second tier in 2021, before finishing 13th and 14th in the last two seasons.

The latter position is where they find themselves once again after dispatching Stuttgart 1-0 last weekend, with Matus Bero's second half strike proving enough to defeat one of the Bundesliga's surprise packages this season. Astonishingly, that was Bochum's only shot on target across the course of their victory, as Stuttgart dominated proceedings to no avail in the form of 19 shots and 63% possession.

Bochum are proving tough to beat at Vonovia-Ruhrstadion once again, though, having only been defeated once on their home patch so far this season. Of course, their first home match of the campaign was a 1-1 draw against Dortmund in late August, which will give them confidence of claiming a positive result at Westfalenstadion on Sunday.

However, with only one win in their last 13 away trips dating back to late March, Letsch's side will need a majorly improved performance on the road if they are to extend their sizeable gap in front of the relegation zone.

Team News

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Dortmund will remain without full-back Ramy Bensebaini and Sebastien Haller, who are on international duty at the Africa Cup of Nations with Algeria and Ivory Coast respectively. Karem Adeyemi, Felix Nmecha, Julian Ryerson, and Emre Can are all major injury doubts after missing the win against Koln last time out.

Mats Hummels was also absent due to illness, and Dortmund's lack of defensive numbers could be compounded if Niklas Sule's back injury means he misses out; the Germany defender was withdrawn at half-time in Cologne due to the issue.

Should Can, Sule, and Hummels all remain unavailable, 19-year-old Hendry Blank could be called upon at the heart of the hosts' defence. Otherwise, Terzic is unlikely to make any changes, meaning Ian Maatsen and Jadon Sancho should combine on the left flank once more following their loan moves from Chelsea and Manchester United respectively.

Bochum, meanwhile, will travel without Takuma Asano as the forward is competing for Japan at the Asian Cup. Former Brighton & Hove Albion defender Bernardo is suspended after receiving his fifth caution of the season against Stuttgart, so Maximilian Wittek could deputise at left-back.

Michael Esser, Keven Schlotterbeck, Danilo Soares and Mohammed Tolba are all injury doubts, but Kevin Stoger should be fit enough to start after missing out against Stuttgart through illness. The 30-year-old could replace Philipp Forster in midfield.

Borussia Dortmund possible starting lineup: Kobel; Meunier, Hummels, N. Schlotterbeck, Maatsen; Sabitzer, Ozcan; Malen, Brandt, Sancho; Fullkrug

VfL Bochum possible starting lineup: Riemann; Oermann, Masovic, Loosli, Wittek; Osterhage, Losilla, Stoger; Bero, Paciencia, Antwi-Adjei

We say: Borussia Dortmund 3-0 VfL Bochum

Dortmund have played like a rejuvenated side since returning from the winter break, having scored seven goals without reply against their struggling opponents. The addition of fresh faces Maatsen and Sancho appear to have provided BVB with some much needed impetus.

Bochum do not tend to travel particularly well, having been thrashed by Stuttgart, Bayern Munich, and Bayer Leverkusen already this season. We are struggling to see beyond a comfortable victory for the hosts, who will move back into the top four if they claim all three points.

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