Augsburg vs. Borussia Dortmund preview: Can die Schwarzgelben claim top spot?
After Bayern Munich were beaten by RB Leipzig on Saturday evening, Borussia Dortmund will have the chance to move to the top of the Bundesliga table when they face Augsburg on Sunday.
| Photo: Borussia Dortmund/OneFootball |
Augsburg
Augsburg are currently experiencing a poor run of form, having won just one of their last nine matches. In their most recent outing, Enrico Maaßen’s side were edged out by relegation rivals Bochum. Arne Maier managed to cancel out Christopher Antwi-Adjei’s early opener, but Bochum retook the lead through a Jeffrey Gouweleeuw own goal before Anthony Losilla doubled the advantage. Kelvin Yeboah pulled a goal back late on, but it proved to be too little too late for Augsburg, who fell to a narrow 3-2 defeat.
With two games left to play, Augsburg are still yet to mathematically secure their Bundesliga survival. Following Saturday’s fixtures, the Fuggerstädter are sitting in 13th place with a three-point gap to the bottom three. However, their safety could be all but secured by the time they face Dortmund if Stuttgart fail to beat Mainz 05 on Sunday.
After losing on their travels last weekend, Augsburg will return to home surroundings on Sunday. Having lost just one of their last eight games at the WWK Arena (W5, D2), the hosts will be hoping that they can use home advantage to trouble Dortmund.
Team News
Augsburg are unable to call upon a number of players due to injury issues, including Reece Oxford, Iago, Andre Hahn, Tobias Strobl and Rafal Gikiewicz.
Fredrik Jensen, Arne Maier, Ruben Vargas and Julian Baumgartlinger are also sidelined for the hosts. Robert Gumny, meanwhile, will serve a one-match suspension for an accumulation of yellow cards.
Borussia Dortmund
After thrashing Wolfsburg 6-0 on May 7, Dortmund claimed another comfortable home victory last weekend, putting five past Borussia. Donyell Malen and Jude Bellingham grabbed a goal apiece before Sébastien Haller netted a brace to give Edin Terzic’s side a four-goal lead at half time. Gladbach restored an element of pride with a Ramy Bensebaïni penalty and a Lars Stindl strike, but Gio Reyna found the net in stoppage time to round off a dominant display.
Dortmund ended matchday 32 one point adrift of Bayern, but the title is now in their hands after the defending champions lost 3-1 at home to RB Leipzig on Saturday evening. If they can beat Augsburg and Mainz 05 in their final two games, Dortmund will be crowned champions for the first time since the 2011-12 season.
Although Dortmund are unbeaten in six league games, they are currently winless in six away matches in the top flight (D3, L3). They have also failed to win in their last two away meetings with Augsburg.
However, they can take confidence from the fact that they have won their final away game in each of their last four seasons.
Team News
Dortmund have travelled without Jude Bellingham, who will miss Sunday's contest with a knee problem. The visitors are also without the services of Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Soumaïla Coulibaly, Thomas Meunier and Julien Duranville.