Augsburg vs. Werder Bremen preview: Team news and predicted lineups
Augsburg
Ahead of the new season, Augsburg's managing director Michael Ströll said the club want to shed their "grey mouse" image and that they're "sexy again".
Ströll pointed to Marius Wolf, who has joined on a free from Borussia Dortmund, as one of the new arrivals who embodies this change.
Other new signings include goalkeeper Nediljko Labrovic, left-back Dimitrios Giannoulis, centre-back Keven Schlotterbeck and striker Samuel Essende, all of whom are likely to start on Saturday.
In terms of departures, the most notable has been the sale of captain Ermedin Demirovic to VfB Stuttgart for €21 million.
Jess Thorup's side overcame an early deficit to beat Viktoria Berlin 4-1 in the DFB-Pokal and will be keen to make amends for the 0-3 defeat they suffered at the hands of Werder in their last encounter in April.
Team News
Dahmen (ankle), Gumny (knee), Oxford (ill) are all out for Augsburg, while Jensen (knock), Mounié (ill) and questionable.
Werder Bremen
Have Werder Bremen finally found a replacement for Niclas Füllkrug? Many supporters of the Green and Whites are hoping so after watching 20-year-old Keke Topp - a new signing from Schalke 04 - score a hat-trick in a 3-1 win over Energie Cottbus in the DFB-Pokal last week.
At 192 centimetres tall, Topp gives Werder a big threat from set-pieces, as Werder Bremen Ole Werner pointed out after the game.
“Set pieces will be important, as we were able to pose a threat from these during pre-season and against Cottbus,” Werner said in the wake of the win over Cottbus.
Team News
Apart from signing Topp and making Skelly Alvero's loan move permanent, Werder haven't done much in the transfer market so far.
Most notably on the outgoing side of things, the club have had to reluctantly say goodbye to Eren Dinkci and Nick Woltemade.
In addition to Naby Keita, who has been suspended by the club, Werder will be without Pieper (thigh) and Salifou (calf) on Saturday.
Click here to see our predicted Augsburg vs. Werder Bremen lineups.