Augsburg vs Borussia Mönchengladbach preview: Seoane is back in the Bundesliga
Gerardo Seoane will take charge of his first league game as Borussia Mönchengladbach boss when his side begin the new Bundesliga season with an away fixture against Augsburg on Saturday.
After avoiding the relegation playoff by just one point last season, Augsburg are now looking forward to starting their 13th consecutive season in the top flight. Having finished in 13th, 14th or 15th in each of the last five seasons, they are expected to be battling towards the bottom of the table once again.
There has been a whole host of departures this summer, but Augsburg have been busy adding to their squad ahead of the new season. Mërgim Berisha, who scored nine goals in 24 appearances last term, has signed on a permanent basis following an initial loan spell. Tim Breithaupt, Phillip Tietz and the experienced Sven Michel are also among those that have arrived at the WWK Arena this summer.
A number of the club’s new signings were involved last weekend when Augsburg suffered a surprise DFB-Pokal exit at the hands of third-tier outfit Unterhaching. Enrico Maaßen will be demanding a response from his players as they look to kick off the 2023-24 Bundesliga season with a victory. The last five meetings between Augsburg and Gladbach have been won by the home side on the day, indicating that home advantage could be a decisive factor in Saturday’s contest.
Team News
Raphael Framberger, Masaya Okugawa and Reece Oxford are all sidelined for the visitors, while Robert Gumny and Patric Pfeiffer are suspended for Saturday's encounter.
Gladbach
For the third consecutive season, Gladbach go into a campaign with a new face in the managerial dugout. Gerardo Seoane has succeeded Daniel Farke as Gladbach's head coach, and the former Bayer Leverkusen boss is tasked with improving the fortunes of a side that have finished in an underwhelming 10th place in the last two seasons.
Seoane has seen Ramy Bensebaini, Jonas Hofmann and Marcus Thuram, but they have made several additions of their own, including Tomáš Čvančara, Franck Honorat and Robin Hack. Those three new recruits were all on the scoresheet last weekend, as Gladbach cruised to a 7-0 away victory over Bersenbrück in the first round of the Pokal.
Die Fohlen will be determined to collect another away victory on Saturday, and picking up all three points would certainly act as a confident boost for a Gladbach side that finished last season with the third-worst away record in the top flight.
Team News
The visitors will go into their Bundesliga opener without the services of Christoph Kramer, Manu Koné and Stefan Lainer.