Preview: Augsburg vs. RB Leipzig - prediction, team news, lineups

The two sides drew 1-1 at the Augsburg Arena last season.

Match preview

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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Team News

Augsburg's injuries continue to mount, with Fredrik Winther, Fredrik Jensen, Andre Hahn, Rafal Gikiewicz, Felix Uduokhai, Reece Oxford, Niklas Dorsch, Noah Sarenren Bazee and Tobias Strobl all unlikely to be available on Saturday.

As such, Maassen has little choice but to stick with the attacking lineup which has brought decent him success in recent weeks, while Tomas Koubek will continue to deputise in goal should Gikiewicz's thigh injury keep the Polish stopper sidelined as expected.

Leipzig have their first-choice goalkeeper unavailable for the foreseeable future themselves after Peter Gulasci sustained a cruciate ligament rupture against Celtic earlier this month.

Lukas Klostermann, Konrad Laimer and Dani Olmo are all ruled out of the trip to Augsburg, too, while Christopher Nkunku and Timo Werner are doubts due to a wrist issue and illness respectively.

As such, Poulsen may retain his spot in attack after impressing in midweek, while Janis Blaswich will continue to prove his worth in goal.

Augsburg possible starting lineup:

Koubek; Gumny, Gouweleeuw, Bauer, Iago; Gruezo, Rexhbecaj; Vargas, Niederlechner, Demirovic; Berisha

RB Leipzig possible starting lineup:

Blaswich; Simakan, Orban, Diallo, Raum; Haidara, Schlager; Szoboszlai, Forsberg; Poulsen, Silva

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.

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