Augsburg vs. Gladbach preview: Farke's side look to get back on track
Gladbach travel to Bavaria on Wednesday night to face relegation-threatened Augsburg, who's superb offensive performance on Sunday still wasn't enough to even claim a point.
FC Augsburg
In a ludicrous affair, Augsburg put together an admirable showing in their 4-3 away loss to BVB. Enrico Maaßen still should have been pleased with his team's improved finishing in front of goal against his former club.
But, Augsburg sit dangerously in the relegation playoff seat with just 15 points tallied through 16 contests. Ermedin Demirovic needs some help as the club must be praying for the imminent return of several usual starters.
Maaßen shared, "We still have 18 games left and many key players are coming back. I have complete confidence in my team. We don't need to deny that we've been without a win for a few games. But with the performance shown at BVB we will we get points.”
Team News
Andre Hahn, Tobias Strobl, Reece Oxford, Iago, Ruben Vargas and Irvin Cardona are all out. Mergim Berisha will return to the squad after serving his red-card suspension.
Borussia Mönchengladbach
Despite some late heroics from captain Lars Stindl, who scored a brace, Gladbach couldn't manage to grab a point against Leverkusen on Sunday. Daniel Farke's side need to be careful as they are slowly slipping down the table and are now six points behind 7th-place Dortmund.
We'll likely see the front four of Hofmann, Kramer, Plea and Ngoumou start up front again on Wednesday with Marcus Thuram's status unclear. Stefan Lainer surprisingly started ahead of Joe Scally on Matchday 16 and he could see a run of action now that he's healthy.
Discussing defender Ko Itakura's recent showing, Farke commented, "(Itakura) put in a solid performance and produced the kind of stuff we want to see from him. He won some decisive challenges. We're delighted to have him back."
Team News
Thuram is expected to make the trip to Augsburg, but his place in the starting 11 is up in the air. Stindl cannot play after recording his 5th yellow card over the weekend.