Top-four chasing RB Leipzig make the trip to the WWK Arena to face Augsburg in the Bundesliga on Saturday.
After getting their first win of 2024 at the fourth time of asking last weekend, Leipzig will look to build on that success to put pressure on Borussia Dortmund in the final Champions League place.
Match preview
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Augsburg made a relatively good start to the season, but they now find themselves drifting towards trouble after struggling through a difficult run of fixtures.
Jess Thorup's side took just one point from their final three games of 2023, and they have returned in similarly underwhelming fashion but were unfortunate to face so many top sides in one go.
Their solitary win in that time came away to Borussia Monchengladbach, but it was their stoic performance against Bayer Leverkusen which drew most of the headlines.
While showing next-to-no attacking threat for 90 minutes, Augsburg looked like holding Leverkusen on their Bundesliga's return until Exequiel Palacios's 94th-minute winner sunk Thorup's men.
Another positive performance against Bayern Munich also left them empty-handed, as they lost despite registering an xG of 2.41, so there will have been much relief when they were slightly fortunate to take a point from Bochum last weekend thanks to Ermedin Demirovic's stoppage-time penalty.
Fixtures do get kinder on paper for the Fuggerstadter in the coming weeks, as a mid-table finish is the best they can hope for.
Augsburg have been in a similar position in each of the last three seasons at this stage and have survived on each occasion, so there will not be much panic in these parts just yet.
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Leipzig are not ideal opponents for them to face in the midst of a poor run though, as they are winless in 13 in this fixture.
Marco Rose's side also returned to form last weekend after a dreadful start to 2024 saw them lose their first three games of the calendar year.
Falling to defeat against fellow European candidates Eintracht Frankfurt, Leverkusen and Stuttgart saw them surrender their place in the top four to Dortmund.
They put things right with an expected, but important, win over Union Berlin last weekend, with Lois Openda and Benjamin Sesko goals condemning the relegation candidates to a 2-0 defeat.
That sees them remain fifth, but they were able to cut the gap to Dortmund to just one point heading into the weekend, and they are now five points ahead of Frankfurt one place below them.
Team News
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Niklas Dorsch should be available for Augsburg here after the midfielder returned to training following his recovery from a groin injury recently.
Olympiacos loanee Pep Biel made his debut for the club off the bench last weekend, but he has not trained with the squad this week, meaning he is unlikely to feature.
Dion Beljo and Raphael Framberger are the two players confirmed to be out of this clash, as they recover from long-term injuries.
Striker Demirovic is set to feature though and will likely be pivotal to Augsburg's chances given he has three goals in his last two games, taking him into double figures for the season.
The Bosnian is still below Leipzig's Openda though; he took his tally to 14 with a goal in the win over Union Berlin, as those two will be looking to out-do each other here.
Rose has a full squad of players to choose from this weekend, as Amadou Haidara is back after Mali's elimination from the Africa Cup of Nations, and Mohamed Simakan has served his one-match suspension.
Emil Forsberg finally completed his move to New York Red Bulls at the end of the January window though, ending a nine-year stay with the club which saw him make 325 appearances.
Augsburg possible starting lineup:
Dahmen; Mbabu, Gouweleeuw, Uduokhai, Iago; Jensen, Jakic, Dorsch, Rexhbecaj; Tietz, Demirovic
RB Leipzig possible starting lineup:
Blaswich; Henrichs, Klostermann, Orban, Raum; Seiwald, Schlager; Dani Olmo, Simons; Sesko, Openda
We say: Augsburg 2-3 RB Leipzig
Leipzig have scored 13 goals in their last four meetings with Augsburg and snatched a draw from the jaws of defeat on their last trip to the WWK Arena, recovering from 3-0 down to draw 3-3.
After conceding 13 goals in their last five away games in all competitions, a similar game could play out here, and last week's win may give Leipzig added confidence which could see them edge this encounter against an Augsburg side who need to get themselves out of a rut sooner rather than later.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Andrew Delaney
