Bundesliga Eintracht Braunschweig v Bochum Match

TEAM NEWS
Braunschweig coach Torsten Lieberknecht had the luxury of a near-complete squad for the 2-1 defeat at Kaiserslautern on Matchday 3. He recalled Vegar Hedenstadt and Deniz Dogan in an attempt to strengthen his defence, but both endured poor games.

Havard Nielsen and Norman Theuerkauf, both of whom have three goals so far, struggled, and while Theuerkauf assisted Dennis Kruppke’s opener, neither looked particularly confident. Nielsen blazed a late chance over the bar, although new signing Seung-Woo Ryu improved things when brought on. Jan Hochscheidt is the only squad member certain to miss out.

Bochum coach Peter Neururer has no personnel concerns to speak of and made no changes for the club’s Matchday 3 curtain-closer with Union Berlin. The side performed well in the eventual 1-1 draw, so freshly-recovered forward Piotr Cwielong still has to wait for his first outing of the season.

He will have a tough job displacing Simon Terodde in the striker’s role, however, with the summer signing netting his fourth league goal of the season against Union.

Braunschweig
Suspended: None
Doubtful: None
Injured/Unavailable: Hochscheidt (adductor)

Bochum
Suspended: None
Doubtful: None
Injured/Unavailable: None

MATCH PREVIEW

Braunschweig began the battle of the promotion hopefuls against Kaiserslautern strongly, with Dennis Kruppke netting after only three minutes. Lax defending, however, allowed their hosts to take a 2-1 lead and it was only in the last ten minutes when the Lions provided any sustained threat.

If they can perform as they did in the 3-0 home win over Heidenheim on Matchday 2 then their hopes of being in the promotion hunt at the end of the campaign are good, particularly as they retained several members of the squad which competed in the top flight last year.

Bochum remain unbeaten in the league this season after a 1-1draw with Union Berlin left them fifth in the table. They were superior to their visitors in every respect, and despite conceding first, they trusted their star men Yuya Tasaka and Simon Terodde, who combined for the equaliser.

Their good run of form, however, will face a stern test during the visit to Braunschweig, one of the division’s toughest trips and I would expect the hosts’ experience to give them the edge in a close encounter.

HEAD TO HEAD

Braunschweig and Bochum have met six times at this level, with three wins for Braunschweig, two for Bochum and one draw. Braunschweig have never lost on home soil, and in March 2013 won 1-0 in Bochum.