The early pacesetters in the 2020-21 Bundesliga season will go head-to-head on Saturday afternoon as second-placed Augsburg welcome current leaders RB Leipzig to the WWK Arena.
Both sides have taken seven points from a possible nine thus far, with Augsburg drawing to Wolfsburg and Leipzig beating Schalke in gameweek three.
Match preview
© Reuters
Even though Augsburg were unable to make it three wins out of three as they were held to a goalless stalemate by Wolfsburg last time out, Die Fuggerstadter have enjoyed a terrific start to the season nonetheless.
Heiko Herrlich's men record back-to-back triumphs against Union Berlin and Borussia Dortmund in their opening two games of the season, and Augsburg have only shipped one goal thus far - a defensive record that only Wolfsburg can also boast.
However, Eintracht Frankfurt are breathing down Augsburg's necks and only sit behind Herrlich's men on goal difference heading into gameweek four, and Augsburg are certainly not expected to occupy a spot in the Champions League places come the end of the season.
Nevertheless, Herrlich will be delighted with what he has seen from his side so far, and given that Augsburg have already prevailed against Dortmund, Die Fuggerstadter have every right to be confident of walking away from their encounter with another Bundesliga giant in Leipzig with something to show for it.
© Reuters
Leipzig will surely have something to say about that, however, with Julian Nagelsmann's side staking an early claim for a maiden Bundesliga title.
Last season's Champions League semi-finalists currently lead the way after three games, with a victory against Mainz and a draw with Bayer Leverkusen preceding a dominant 4-0 triumph against a struggling Schalke side last time out.
Leipzig have started as they mean to go on and will be looking to take further advantage of Dortmund and Bayern Munich's early losses, and Die Roten Bullen will mark their return to the Champions League with a group stage fixture against Istanbul Basaksehir three days after their showdown with Augsburg.
While Augsburg have only let in a solitary goal in three matches, Leipzig's defensive resilience has seen them ship just two strikes at this early stage, with two of the Roten Bullen rearguard action in Willi Orban and Marcel Halstenberg popping up with goals at the other end of the pitch in the win over Schalke.
Augsburg have only ever beaten Leipzig once in the eight Bundesliga matches between the pair, with Nagelsmann's side enjoying 3-1 and 2-1 victories against their weekend opponents last season.
Augsburg Bundesliga form: WWD
Augsburg form (all competitions): WWWD
RB Leipzig Bundesliga form: WDW
RB Leipzig form (all competitions): WWDW
Team News
© Reuters
Herrlich - who has been dealing with health issues of his own in recent weeks - will be without the injured Jan Moravek, who is nursing a muscular problem.
Icelandic striker Alfred Finnbogason is expected to sit this one out with a hamstring problem, but Florian Niederlechner should spearhead the Augsburg attack either way.
Augsburg manager Herrlich was hospitalised with a collapsed lung and missed out his side's 0-0 draw with Wolfsburg, but the 48-year-old is back on the training pitches and ready to take the reins for the clash with Leipzig.
As for the visitors, Marcel Sabitzer and Fabrice Hartmann remain on the treatment table, while Konrad Laimer is still working his way back to action in individual training.
Leipzig saw several of their players take part in international fixtures, with the likes of Orban, Yussuf Poulsen and Emil Forsberg all due a rest, but Peter Gulacsi is a shoo-in to start in goal after returning from duty with Hungary prematurely.
Ibrahima Konate could be handed a start in Nagelsmann's three-man defence after overcoming a hip problem.
Augsburg possible starting lineup:
Gikiewicz; Gumny, Gouweleeuw, Uduokhai, Iago; Khedira, Strobl; Hahn, Caligiuri; Niederlechner, Gregoritsch
RB Leipzig possible starting lineup:
Gulacsi; Upamecano, Konate, Halstenberg; Mukiele, Kampl, Haidara, Angelino; Olmo, Nkunku; Sorloth
We say: Augsburg 1-2 RB Leipzig
Should Leipzig avoid defeat on Saturday, they will set a club record of nine away league matches without defeat, which is an added incentive for Nagelsmann's men to go out there and perform. Augsburg have also started the season brightly and are capable of making this a difficult afternoon for the visitors, but we are backing Leipzig to pull through.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting over 2.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Over 2.5:dataData Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a RB Leipzig win with a probability of 68.28%. A draw had a probability of 18.3% and a win for Augsburg had a probability of 13.44%.
The most likely scoreline for a RB Leipzig win was 0-2 with a probability of 10.8%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (9.74%) and 0-1 (9.51%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (8.57%), while for an Augsburg win it was 2-1 (3.86%). The actual scoreline of 0-2 was predicted with a 10.8% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 0-2 win for RB Leipzig in this match.
