Hoffenheim vs Augsburg preview: Hosts aiming for three consecutive victories
Hoffenheim will look to claim a third consecutive win when they play host to Augsburg on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the visitors are looking for a response after losing 2-1 to Mainz last weekend
Meanwhile, the visitors are looking for a response after losing 2-1 to Mainz last weekend
| Christoph Baumgartner. | Photo: Steindy, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 |
Hoffenheim
After being taken to extra time - before winning 2-0 - by fourth-tier SV Rödinghausen and losing 3-1 to Borussia Mönchengladbach, Andre Breitenreiter would have been disappointed with his opening two games as Hoffenheim boss.
However, in their last two matches, Hoffenheim have claimed consecutive victories to get their Bundesliga campaign up and running. After coming from two goals down to beat Bochum 3-2, they turned their attention to a tricky away game against Champions League side Bayer Leverkusen.
The contest proved to be anything but tricky as Hoffenheim cruised to a 3-0 victory, with Christoph Baumgartner, Andrej Kramarić and Georginio Rutter all scoring.
Having scored three goals in both of their last two matches, Hoffenheim will look to continue their goalscoring form on Saturday. Although they will also need to be strong defensively after conceding 10 goals across their previous three Bundesliga home matches.
After losing just one of their 11 Bundesliga home games against Augsburg, the hosts will be confident that they can achieve a positive result on Saturday.
Team News
Ihlas Bebou and Benjamin Hübner are ruled out for the hosts with knee and ankle injuries respectively. Hoffenheim are also unable to call upon Philipp Pentke and Stanley Nsoki.
Augsburg
Augsburg have also begun the new season with a new man in the dugout. Enrico Maaßen has overseen two wins and two defeats in his four competitive games in charge of the Fuggerstädter. However, only one of those wins has taken place in the Bundesliga.
They were thrashed 4-0 by Freiburg in their league opener before beating Bayer Leverkusen in their first away match of the Bundesliga season.
Augsburg looked set to take a point from last weekend's encounter against Mainz after Ermedin Demirović cancelled out Karim Onisiwo's opener. However, Lee Jae-Sung grabbed a winner for Mainz in the third minute of stoppage time, ensuring Maaßen begins his tenure with consecutive home defeats.
After three games, Augsburg sit in 10th place in the Bundesliga, and they can move level on points with Hoffenheim if they win on Saturday. A victory over Hoffenheim would make history for Augsburg as it would be the first time they begin a Bundesliga campaign with consecutive away wins.
Team News
Augsburg have a number of injury concerns ahead of Saturday's contest The visitors are without the services of Reece Oxford, Niklas Dorsch, Tobias Strobl, Noah Sarenren-Bazee, Frederik Winther, Andre Hahn and Felix Uduokhai. Robert Gumny is also a doubt for the meeting with Hoffenheim.
