Preview: Augsburg vs. Wolfsburg - prediction, team news, lineups

The visitors, meanwhile, have won two of their last three matches to move outside of the relegation places.

Match preview

Having lost four of their opening five matches under new head coach Enrico Maassen, Augsburg looked set to become embroiled in a relegation battle this season.

That could still happen, of course, but it seems far less likely after last weekend's 3-2 win away to Schalke 04 extended their winning run to three games and moved Maassen's side seven points clear of the danger zone in the process.

Having squandered a two-goal lead at the Veltins-Arena before Mergim Berisha saw red for a second bookable offence in the 70th minute, Fuggerstadter showed remarkable adversity to still find a winner, with Andre Hahn sending the away fans into raptures 13 minutes from time.

A club the size of Augsburg does not realistically expect to put back-to-back wins together all too often, let alone three or four in a row, so yet another victory against Wolfsburg on Saturday would send them into almost unchartered territory.

Wolfsburg, meanwhile, have not made the strongest of starts under Niko Kovac, who is aiming to bounce back after a couple of difficult managerial spells at Bayern Munich and Monaco.

However, having ended their winless run away to Kovac's former side Eintracht Frankfurt before losing to the current league leaders Union Berlin prior to the international break, the Wolves secured another important victory against Stuttgart last weekend.

A crazy first half at the Volkswagen Arena saw each team score twice, including Omar Marmoush bagging his first goal of the season against the side he spent last season on loan with, before Yannick Gerhardt's dramatic injury-time winner stole the show.

Kovac will be hoping to see more consistency from his team going forward, with Saturday's trip to Augsburg an excellent opportunity to test themselves against an in-form opponent, albeit one that they should have eyes on finishing above this season.

Augsburg Bundesliga form:

L

L

L

W

W

W

Wolfsburg Bundesliga form:

D

L

L

W

L

W

Team News

Augsburg will be without Berisha for one match due to suspension, with Ruben Vargas the likeliest candidate to replace him in Maassen's attacking line-up.

Reece Oxford, Felix Uduokhai, Niklas Dorsch, Tobias Strobl and Noah Sarenren Bazee are all expected to remain sidelined with injury.

Wolfsburg, meanwhile, could be without their leading goalscorer Lukas Nmecha for the second successive week, after the Germany forward sustained a knee injury on international duty.

Marmoush will lead the line again should Nmecha be ruled out, while Jonas Wind, Jerome Roussillon and Max Kruse are not expected to travel to Bavaria.

Augsburg possible starting lineup:

Gikiewicz; Gumny, Bauer, Gouweleeuw, Iago; Gruezo, Rexhbecaj; Hahn, Vargas; Niederlechner, Demirovic

Wolfsburg possible starting lineup:

Casteels; Baku, Lacroix, Van De Ven, Otavio; Svanberg, Arnold, Gerhardt; Wimmer, Marmoush, Kaminski

We say: Augsburg 2-1 Wolfsburg

Augsburg have gathered serious momentum of late, and we expect that to continue by beating Wolfsburg at the weekend.

Maassen's side simply look to have more firepower than their forthcoming opponents, which should help them to a fourth consecutive win.

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