Augsburg vs. Darmstadt preview: Both sides looking for second victory
Augsburg and Darmstadt will both be hoping to claim their second win of the Bundesliga season when they face off on Saturday.
Augsburg
Augsburg have experienced a sluggish start to the Bundesliga season, having picked up just five points from their opening six matches. After mustering one point from their first four games, the Fuggerstädter edged out Mainz 2-1 to claim their first league victory of the 2023-24 campaign.
However, they were unable to back up that win last weekend, as they fell to a 2-0 defeat to Freiburg, extending their winless away run to 16 Bundesliga matches. Having failed to pick up a point on the road this season, Augsburg will be pleased to return to home surroundings on Saturday.
After losing just two of their last 12 home league games, Enrico Maaßen’s side will be confident about their chances of picking up at least a point from Saturday’s encounter. Having seen his side concede first in five of their six league games this season, the Augsburg boss will be challenging his side to start on the front foot against their newly-promoted opponents.
Team News
Frederik Winther, Masaya Okugawa, Raphael Framberger, Japhet Tanganga and Reece Oxford are all sidelined for the hosts. Arne Engels, meanwhile, will serve the final game of a two-match suspension.
Darmstadt
After winning promotion from the second tier last season, Darmstadt made a slow start to their first top-flight campaign since 2016-17. They began the campaign with three consecutive defeats, before they played out a 3-3 draw in their home meeting with Gladbach. They were unable to back up their first point of the season, as they fell to a 3-1 defeat to Stuttgart in their most recent away meeting.
However, Darmstadt’s wait for a victory finally came to an end last Sunday when they claimed a 4-2 home victory over Werder Bremen. Matthias Bader, Tim Skarke, Marvin Mehlem and Tobias Kempe all found the net to give Darmstadt a four-goal advantage. While Bremen pulled two goals back, Darmstadt saw out the remainder of the contest to claim maximum points.
Having lost all three of their three away league games this season, the visitors will be looking to claim their first away points on Sunday.
Team News
The visitors are without the services of Braydon Manu, Klaus Gjasula, Fabian Holland, Emir Karic, Fabio Torsiello and Christoph Zimmermann.