Eintracht Frankfurt will be hoping to close the gap on the Champions League qualification positions to three points by beating VfL Bochum when the Bundesliga returns to action on Friday night.

Bochum, meanwhile, would move up to 13th in the table should they be able to win a third successive league match.

Match preview

Having failed to win any of their last six matches in all competitions prior to the recent international break, Frankfurt have lost ground on the likes of Union Berlin, Freiburg and RB Leipzig in the race to qualify for next season's Champions League.

Oliver Glasner's side were comprehensively dumped out of Europe's elite competition by runaway Serie A leaders Napoli, as they fell to a 5-0 defeat on aggregate in their first ever knockout tie in the modern version of the competition.

Glasner may be relieved to see his side return to action at Deutsche Bank Park this week, with two crucial fixtures against Bochum and Union Berlin in the Bundesliga and quarter-finals of the DFB-Pokal respectively potentially set to shape the remainder of Frankfurt's campaign.

With only nine league games of the season left to play, Die Adler cannot afford to drop any more unnecessary points if they are to close the gap on the top four positions, starting with the visit of a relegation-threatened team on Friday evening.

However, Thomas Letsch's side will clearly be no pushovers, especially having moved themselves four points clear of the relegation places with two successive victories prior to the international break, including only their second away win of the season at FC Koln.

That rare victory on the road was backed up by an even more impressive 1-0 win against Leipzig at Vonovia-Ruhrstadion, where Die Unabsteigbaren have prevailed six times in eight matches since Letsch was appointed as manager last September.

Bochum appeared to be almost dead and buried prior to the former Vitesse Arnhem boss being drafted in, having collected only one point from their opening seven games, as Letsch's predecessor Thomas Reis - who has since joined relegation rivals Schalke 04 - seemingly succumbing to second season syndrome following their promotion in 2021.

With a healthy gap in front of the four teams beneath them in the table, which includes rock-bottom Stuttgart who visit Vonovia-Ruhrstadion next weekend, Bochum look set to have enough about them to survive almost regardless of their result on Friday.

Team News

Frankfurt will be without Tuta after the defender picked up a one-match suspension due to receiving his fifth booking of the season against Union Berlin, with Kristijan Jakic set to be drafted into a central defensive role.

Jesper Lindstrom and Almamy Toure are unlikely to return to action until late April due to ankle and hip injuries respectively, with club captain Sebastian Rode likely to earn a start in midfield in order to allow Daichi Kamada to operate between the lines.

Bochum, meanwhile, will travel without Danilo Soares due to suspension, after the full-back was cautioned for the fifth time in the Bundesliga this season during the victory against Leipzig. Konstantinos Stafylidis is expected to switch over to his natural left-back role, with Jordi Osei-Tutu coming into the side at right-back.

Cristian Gamboa is approaching his return from a serious knee injury, but the right-back will almost certainly be eased into first-team action from the substitutes' bench whenever Letsch deems the Costa Rica international ready to do so.

Eintracht Frankfurt possible starting lineup:
Trapp; Jakic, Hasebe, Ndicka; Knauff, Rode, Sow, Max; Kamada, Gotze; Kolo Muani

VfL Bochum possible starting lineup:
Riemann; Osei-Tutu, Ordets, Masovic, Stafylidis; Osterhage, Losilla, Stoger; Asano; Antwi-Adjei, Hofmann

We say: Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 VfL Bochum

The timing of the recent international break may have suited Frankfurt far more than Bochum given the two teams' contrasting form, but the visitors should still provide Glasner's side with a stiff test on Friday.

However, the former Wolfsburg will be aware that his side are running out of chances in terms of claiming a Champions League qualification place this season, and we expect them to get the job done in marginal circumstances.

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