Augsburg vs. Stuttgart preview: Visitors continue bid for UCL qualification

Augsburg

Augsburg head into Sunday’s fixture in 10th spot after recording nine wins, four wins and 13 defeats in 26 Bundesliga matches. Crucially, the Fuggerstädter are seven points clear of the drop zone, putting them in a strong position to extend their 15-year stay in the top flight.

While they may be on course for survival, Augsburg will still be keen to produce a response to back-to-back away defeats against RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund. Manuel Baum’s side will certainly be looking forward to returning to the WWK Arena, where they have won each of their last three matches as part of an eight-game unbeaten home run (W5, D3).

They have recorded five clean sheets across those eight home matches, so they may fancy their chances of negating the threat posed by a Stuttgart side that have scored 29 goals in 13 away league games. A strong defensive display would boost Augsburg's hopes of claiming their first win over Stuttgart since October 2021.

Team News

The hosts are unable to call upon the services of Yannik Keitel and Chrislain Matsima due to injury. In positive news, Jeffrey Gouweleeuw has recovered from injury and is fit to feature in a matchday squad for the first time in 2026. 

Predicted lineup: Dahmen; Banks, Schlotterbeck, Zesiger; Fellhauer, Jakić, Massengo, Giannoulis; Rieder, Claude-Maurice, Ribeiro

Stuttgart

Stuttgart will turn their full focus to domestic matters after their Europa League campaign drew to a close in Porto on Thursday. The Bundesliga side travelled to Portugal with hopes of overturning a 2-1 deficit from the first leg, but they were unable to stage a turnaround as they fell to a 2-0 defeat at the Estádio do Dragão. 

While they may have finished with European football for this season, Stuttgart still have work to do if they want to secure Champions League qualification for next term. Sebastian Hoeneß’s side are currently sitting in fourth place in the Bundesliga table after winning 15, drawing five and losing six of their 26 league matches. They are level on points with RB Leipzig in fourth and Hoffenheim in fifth, knowing that a win on Sunday would send them into the international break with a three-point advantage over their top-four rivals.

Die Schwaben should fancy their chances of picking up a positive result after winning three and drawing two of their last five Bundesliga games since losing 2-1 to St. Pauli on February 7. They can also take confidence from the fact they have won eight of their previous nine meetings with Augsburg, including a 3-2 success in November’s reverse fixture. 

Team News

Jamie Leweling could return to the Stuttgart squad after missing Thursday’s defeat to Porto with an injury issue. 

Predicted lineup: Nübel; Assignon, Jeltsch, Chabot, Mittelstädt; Karazor, Stiller; Tomás, El Khannouss, Führich; Undav