Having doubled their points tally for the season in the last five games, Greuther Furth will look to boost their claim to rise off the foot of the Bundesliga table on Saturday, when they travel to take on VfL Bochum.
Although the visitors remain rooted to the bottom of the division with just 14 points, they have picked up two wins from the previous five outings, while their hosts currently occupy 11th spot.
Match preview
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In their first season back in the top flight since 2010, Bochum have enjoyed a commendable campaign, winning six of their first 14 matches and consistently remaining clear of the fight at the bottom end of the division.
Following a period of inconsistency in December, Thomas Reis's side put together a strong run after the turn of the year, winning nine points from their first six league games across January and February and progressing to the DFB-Pokal quarter-finals with a 3-1 win over Mainz.
After a narrow league defeat to RB Leipzig, Reis's men hosted Freiburg for that quarter-final last time out, and after Sebastian Polter drew them level on the hour mark, the game looked destined for penalties.
That was until Roland Sallai netted the winner for the visitors in the final minute of extra time, cruelly dumping Die Unabsteigbaren out of the competition.
Now with the chance to climb into the top half of the Bundesliga table, Reis's side will look to bounce back from consecutive defeats when they host the league's basement side on Saturday.
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Despite their difficult campaign, Greuther Furth will make the trip with renewed confidence, having enjoyed an upturn in form recently.
Following their promotion from the second tier last term, the Kleeblatter have certainly found life in the Bundesliga difficult, having won just one of their opening 19 league games this campaign.
After earning just seven points in that time, they recorded their first win of the new year at home to Mainz, with Jeremy Dudziak on the scoresheet alongside an own goal.
Stefan Leitl's side then bounced back from a defeat to Wolfsburg with another 2-1 win, defeating Hertha Berlin thanks to Branimir Hrgota's brace.
The Kleeblatter most recently earned a commendable draw against Koln, and, while their hopes of survival are extremely slim with a nine-point gap to bridge, Leitl's men will still look to do themselves proud with another victory.
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Team News
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Bochum's only absentee should be key forward Simon Zoller, who has been out of action since last September with a ligament rupture.
Danny Blum has recently returned to fitness, though, while Elvis Rexhbecaj will be available for selection after serving a suspension.
Sebastian Polter will continue to lead the line after taking his tally to eight goals for the season in the eventual quarter-final defeat last time out.
Robin Kehr, Marius Funk and Jessic Ngankam remain long-term absentees for the visitors, while key man Jeremy Dudziak is a doubt but could feature if deemed fit.
Branimir Hrgota has been a shining light in a difficult campaign, registering eight goals and four assists in 24 Bundesliga appearances, and he will continue to lead the attack.
VfL Bochum possible starting lineup:
Riemann; Gamboa, Bella-Kotchap, Leitsch, Soares; Losilla; Aseno, Osterhage, Rexhbecaj, Locadia; Polter
Greuther Furth possible starting lineup:
Linder; Meyerhofer, Griesbeck, Viergever, Itter; Tillman, Christiansen, Seguin; Leweling; Hrgota, Pululu
We say: VfL Bochum 2-0 Greuther Furth
The visitors have certainly done themselves proud recently, but we ultimately see them falling short in Bochum.
Their hosts boast the stronger squad and will be keen to bounce back from their cup defeat and slight dip in league form.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a VfL Bochum win with a probability of 61.37%. A draw had a probability of 19.9% and a win for Greuther Furth had a probability of 18.71%.
The most likely scoreline for a VfL Bochum win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.81%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (8.69%) and 1-0 (7.96%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (8.98%), while for a Greuther Furth win it was 1-2 (5.06%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with a 9.8% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 2-1 win for VfL Bochum in this match and our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted the win for VfL Bochum.
