Both teams will be aiming to move into the top half of the Bundesliga table when Augsburg host RB Leipzig on Saturday.
The two sides drew 1-1 at the Augsburg Arena last season.
After taking 10 points from a possible 12 heading into last weekend’s trip to Cologne, Augsburg were beaten 3-2 by FC Koln in a topsy-turvy affair.
Florian Niederlechner provided the visitors with the lead before Steffen Tigges and Denis Huseinbasic turned the match on its head after half time, with Daniel Caliguri bringing Enrico Maassen’s side level once again with a little over 20 minutes of normal time remaining.
However, they could not hold on for a point as Tigges bagged his second of the match in the 81st minute, before Fuggerstadter were comprehensively dumped out of the DFB-Pokal in midweek after a 5-2 defeat at home to Bayern Munich.
Maassen will hope to see his team gain a positive result against Leipzig on Saturday, although he will be fully aware that they head into the match as underdogs once again.
Leipzig, meanwhile, are yet to win successive league games this season, but they do travel to Augsburg off the back of three consecutive victories in all competitions.
A 2-0 win away to Celtic has placed their Champions League destiny back into their own hands in terms of progressing into the knockout stages, while Hertha Berlin and Hamburger SV have been defeated in the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal respectively in the last week.
Marco Rose’s side led 3-0 at half time against Hertha last weekend, before quickfire goals from Dodi Lukebakio and Stevan Jovetic shortly after the hour mark set up a nervy finish at the Red Bull Arena. Rose would have been pleased with his side’s display of character to hold onto all three points.
Second-tier outfit Hamburg were no match for Die Roten Bullen, who welcomed Yussuf Poulsen back to their starting lineup in emphatic style, with the Denmark forward bagging a brace before half time on the way to a comfortable 4-0 win for his side.
A win in Bavaria on Saturday would see Leipzig move back into the top half of the table, although they head into the weekend only two points behind the Champions League qualification positions, which would be a perfectly adequate finish for them this season after suffering a disrupted start to the campaign leading to Rose’s appointment.
Augsburg Bundesliga form:
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Augsburg form (all competitions):
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RB Leipzig Bundesliga form:
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RB Leipzig form (all competitions):
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We say: Augsburg 1-1 RB Leipzig
Should Augsburg be missing Nkunku and Werner from the start on Saturday, Augsburg will feel that they can take advantage of their opponents’ minimised threat.
The hosts have been in decent form of late despite losing their last two matches, and they have plenty of firepower themselves to test Leipzig’s defensive unit. As such, we can envisage a repeat of last season’s scoreline when these two sides met in Bavaria.