In the first round of the DFB-Pokal, Bundesliga side Bochum will be hoping to avoid an upset when they travel to Jahnstadion Regensburg, where they will face second-tier team Jahn Regensburg on Sunday.
The home side are currently 11th in the 2. Bundesliga and have three points after two games, while the visitors will take on RB Leipzig in their opening game of the 2024-25 top-flight season on August 24.
Match preview
The hosts were promoted from the third division of German football at the end of 2023-24 after finishing third before winning their promotion playoff tie 4-3 against Wehen Wiesbaden in May.
This league season, Jahnstadion Regensburg began with a 2-0 loss against Hannover 96 on August 3, but they did win their second match 1-0 against Ulm on August 9.
In those fixtures, Die Jahnelf conceded 28 shots, 20 of which were from inside their penalty area.
Manager Joe Enochs will be pleased that his side had 17 shots of their own in the opening two games of the season, though he will be concerned that they currently rank 18th out of all 18 teams in the division for shots on target per match so far.
Last season, Jahn Regensburg were eliminated from the DFB-Pokal in the first round after they lost 2-1 against Magdeburg on August 14, 2023.
As for the visitors, they only stayed in the top flight thanks to their penalty shootout win in the relegation playoff tie against Fortuna Dusseldorf on May 25.
Fortuna Dusseldorf won the first leg 3-0 on April 23, but Bochum managed to reverse the scoreline in the second before eventually winning 6-5 on penalties.
Die Blauen's 2023-24 season was also turbulent off the pitch given they sacked former manager Thomas Letsch in April, before appointing Heiko Butscher for his fourth spell as interim boss until the end of the season.
Peter Zeidler is currently in charge, and the veteran manager previously coached for six years St. Gallen.
Zeidler's side were eliminated from the DFB-Pokal in 2023-24 after they lost on penalties against third-tier Arminia Bielefeld.
Bochum's away record in the competition has been relatively strong in recent seasons considering they have won or progressed from six of their last eight ties on the road.
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Team News
The hosts will likely start Felix Gebhardt in goal, and he could be shielded by centre-backs Florian Ballas and Louis Breunig.
Jahn Regensburg could also name Kai Proger, Christian Kuhlwetter and Dominik Kother in the forward line.
As for the away side, Patrick Drewes will likely be the starting goalkeeper, while Felix Passlack, Ivan Ordets, Erhan Masovic and Maximilian Wittek could form the defence in front of him.
Philipp Hofmann, Moritz Broschinski and Lukas Daschner all scored for Bochum last time out against Le Havre on August 10 in a pre-season friendly and could retain their places in the starting XI.
Jahn Regensburg possible starting lineup:
Gebhardt; Saller, Ballas, Breunig, Schonfelder; Ernst, Geipl, Viet; Proger, Kuhlwetter, Kother
VfL Bochum possible starting lineup:
Drewes; Passlack, Ordets, Masovic, Wittek; Bero, Sissoko, Losilla; Daschner; Broschinski, Hofmann
We say: Jahn Regensburg 1-2 VfL Bochum
Given Bochum's status as a Bundesliga side, they come into the game as undisputed favourites ahead of second-division Jahn Regensburg.
However, the visitors are fortunate to still be in the top flight, and it would not be surprising if they struggled against the hosts on Sunday.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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