Augsburg vs. Wolfsburg preview: Thorup takes charge of first home game
Jess Thorup will oversee his first home game as Augsburg boss when Wolfsburg play host to Wolfsburg on Saturday.
| Photo: FC Augsburg |
Augsburg
After replacing Enrico Maaßen with Thorup, Augsburg got off to a positive start under their new manager, claiming a 5-2 away victory over Heidenheim. Thorup would have been concerned when their newly-promoted opponents surged into a two-goal lead inside 18 minutes. However, Augsburg fought back to take a narrow lead into half time courtesy of goals from Phillip Tietz, Mads Pedersen and Ermedin Demirović. Felix Uduokhai added a fourth just after the hour mark, before Elvis Rexhbeçaj netted a late spot-kick to round off the scoring.
The impressive result represented Augsburg’s first away league win since beating Schalke 3-2 in October 2022. After ending their 16-game winless away run, Augsburg will return home for Saturday’s fixture.
Although they have lost just one of their four home games this season, that sole defeat took place against Darmstadt in their most recent outing at the WWK Arena. Having taken four points from their last two home meetings with Wolfsburg, the hosts will be confident of avoiding defeat.
Team News
Kevin Mbabu, Frederik Winther, Reece Oxford and Raphael Framberger are set to miss out, while Japhet Tanganga is a doubt.
Wolfsburg
Wolfsburg began the season with a positive run of results, claiming four victories in their opening six league matches. However, they have experienced a drop off in form in their last two games, having suffered back-to-back defeats. After losing 3-1 away to Stuttgart, die Wölfe were narrowly beaten in last Saturday’s home meeting against high-flying Bayer Leverkusen.
Maxence Lacroix levelled the scoring after Jeremie Frimpong had given Leverkusen an early lead, before Álex Grimaldo netted the winner in the 62nd minute to condemn Wolfsburg to their first home defeat of the season.
Wolfsburg, who sit in ninth place, now head on their travels, where they will attempt to end a three-game losing run. Having shipped seven of their eight away goals conceded in the second half, Niko Kovac will be challenging his side to keep their performance levels high for the duration of Saturday’s contest.
Team News
The visitors are expected to be without the services of Koen Casteels, Kilian Fischer, Lukas Nmecha and Rogério.