VfL Bochum will be aiming to avoid a third successive league defeat when they host Borussia Monchengladbach on Tuesday.

The visitors, meanwhile, could move as high as sixth in the table by claiming all three points.

Match preview

After winning three of his first five games in charge following his switch from Vitesse Arnhem to Bochum in September, Thomas Letsch has been brought back down to Earth with two successive defeats in recent weeks.

Die Unabsteigbaren still remain without a single point on the road this season having lost to Wolfsburg and Borussia Dortmund without scoring in their last two matches, but they remain one point ahead of Schalke 04 at the bottom of the table.

However, with Bochum four points adrift of safety and possessing a significantly inferior goal difference compared to the sides above them, they will almost certainly need to beat Gladbach if they are to move outside of the bottom three positions prior to the World Cup beginning later this month.

As such, Letsch is under reasonable pressure to secure a third consecutive home win at Vonovia-Ruhrstadion on Tuesday, with anything but a victory leaving them vulnerable to returning to the foot of the table.

Gladbach, meanwhile, returned to winning ways by beating Stuttgart 3-1 on Friday night, with Marcus Thuram bagging his ninth league goal in 13 games this season.

The France forward's return to form has been one of Daniel Farke's most noticeable improvements since taking over the managerial job during the summer, with his side undoubtedly improving but still struggling for consistency.

With his team facing Dortmund at Borussia-Park on Friday, the 46-year-old will be desperate to claim all three points in Bochum in order to remove the pressure from their last match prior to breaking for the World Cup.

If Farke's side are to claim a European qualification place this season - which they undoubtedly possesses enough talent to do - then beating sides towards the bottom of the table must be something they pull off with more frequency.

Team News

Bochum may remain without Marko Johansson, Dominique Heintz, Erhan Masovic, Jacek Goralski, Takuma Asano and Paul Grave on Tuesday.

Letsch could opt to go with the same starting XI which lost away to Dortmund at the weekend, having restricted their opponents to only six shots despite conceding three goals.

Gladbach, meanwhile, will travel without Yann Sommer, Hannes Wolf, Ko Itakura, Florian Neuhaus, Tony Jantschke and Stefan Lainer.

Nico Elvedi missed his side's win against Stuttgart through illness and remains a doubt, which could see Ramy Bensebaini be forced to deputise at centre-back.

VfL Bochum possible starting lineup:
Riemann; Gamboa, Lambropoulos, Ordets, Soares; Losilla, Stafylidis; Zoller, Stoger, Osei-Tutu; Hofmann

Borussia Monchengladbach possible starting lineup:
Sippel; Scally, Friedrich, Elvedi, Bensebaini; Weigl, Kramer; Hofmann, Stindl, Plea; Thuram

We say: VfL Bochum 1-2 Borussia Monchengladbach

We can envisage both teams going for the win on Tuesday, with the visitors possessing the greater attacking talent to claim all three points.

Bochum have improved at home under Letsch's management, but they have lost 10 of their 13 league games for a reason and we can envisage Gladbach worsening that record.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Previews by email