Augsburg vs. Bochum: probable line-ups, match stats and LIVE blog!

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Vargas returned for Augsburg last weekend as they snatched a late draw with Hertha Berlin, having missed the previous matchday's famous victory over Bayern Munich. Reece Oxford featured in the latter but suffered a muscle injury in training prior to the game in Berlin, and the former West Ham United and Borussia Mönchengladbach man looks set for an extended spell on the sidelines. Better news for coach Markus Weinzierl is that striker Alfred Finnbogason returned to training this week after a two-week thigh muscle injury lay-off. As did Felix Uduokhai, though the Germany international is unlikely to feature as he works towards full fitness, meaning Frederik Winther and Robert Gumny should continue to cover at centre-back, with captain Jeffrey Gouweleeuw also not included. One thing Weinzierl couldn't control is the weather with a snowstorm forcing Tuesday's session to be shortened as the former Schalke boss aims to build on an improved run of form with his team taking seven points from a possible 12 to move four clear of the automatic drop zone, but they still occupy the play-off spot.

Bochum — in 13th place, three points better off than their Matchday 14 opponents — have also been on an upward trajectory since knocking Augsburg out of the DFB Cup on penalties in late October. Narrow defeats to Gladbach and Bayer Leverkusen have been offset by wins over Hoffenheim and — last week, courtesy of Milos Pantovic's latest outrageous strike — Freiburg, though both of those victories came at home. First-choice goalkeeper Manuel Riemann continues to be troubled by a thigh problem, and though he played against Freiburg, he has struggled to train and Thomas Reis has confirmed that Michael Esser will be the man in goal in Augsburg.

Match stats

Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser against Hertha marked his first Bundesliga goal since Matchday 1. He's the eighth different name on a club scoring list headed by Florian Niederlechner (three).

Despite that spread, Augsburg are - along with Bochum - the 2021/22 Bundesliga's lowest scorers outside the bottom two (12 goals).

Augsburg have claimed 16 points from as many league matches since Weinzierl returned as coach in May.

Pantovic's two Bundesliga goals to date have both been scored from the halfway line. He joins Danny Blum and Simon Zoller on two goals, with Sebastian Polter the team's leading marksman on three.

Bochum knocked Augsburg out of this season's DFB Cup, with goalkeeper Riemann scoring the winning penalty in the shootout.

Riemann boasts the second best save percentage in the Bundesliga after 13 matches (74.7 percent).

Probable line-ups

Augsburg: Gikiewicz - Caligiuri, Gumny, Winther, Iago - Vargas, Maier, Dorsch, Pedersen - Hahn (c), Zeqiri

Out: Gouweleeuw (not included), Oxford (muscular), Sarenren Bazee (knee), Strobl (knee)

Doubtful: Finnbogason (thigh), Uduokhai (thigh)

Coach: Markus Weinzierl

Bochum: Esser - Stafylidis, Masovic, Lampropoulos, Soares - Löwen, Losilla, Rexhbecaj - Asano, Polter, Holtmann

Out: Decarli (shoulder), Riemann (thigh), Zoller (knee)

Doubtful: Osterhage (muscular)

Coach: Thomas Reis