Augsburg will hope to distance themselves from the relegation zone when they host last-placed VfL Bochum on Saturday at WWK Arena in their 12th Bundesliga match of their 2024-25 campaign.
The home team are fifth last in 14th place with 12 points and were beaten 3-0 by leaders Bayern Munich on November 23, whereas their opponents are in 18th place with just two points and lost 2-0 against Stuttgart on the same date.
Match preview
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Despite the 3-0 scoreline, the hosts defended excellently against Bayern up until the Bavarians' first goal in the 62nd minute, and even then many of their subsequent attempts were not particularly threatening.
Boss Jess Thorup praised his players for their defensive performances, but noted that he felt they should have done better at crucial moments, saying: "We defended well, apart from the two penalties. They did have a lot of shots on goal, but they didn't really cause any danger in the first half. Our compactness made it difficult for them."
Augsburg's Bundesliga record of 13 goals scored and 23 conceded makes them the division's joint fifth-worst offensive and third-worst defensive club in the top flight.
Prior to their defeat against Bayern, the Fuggerstadter had drawn two and won two of the previous four games and had triumphed in two and drawn two of their five prior league matches.
Thorup's side have been excellent at home, winning four, drawing two and losing just one of their seven fixtures at WWK Arena.
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New Bochum head coach Dieter Hecking took charge of his first game against champions Bayer Leverkusen on November 9 and managed to earn a valuable point, but his team lost last time out against Stuttgart in his second outing.
Stuttgart created three big chances, hit the woodwork twice and produced 12 shots from inside the box, while the Blues mustered two big chances and registered four efforts from inside the penalty area.
Hecking's side are yet to win any game this term and have lost 10 of their 12 fixtures, including four of their last five.
Though Bochum have struggled this campaign, their return of 10 Bundesliga goals is at least better than two teams in the top flight, but there is no masking the fact that their record of 32 goals conceded is the worst in the league.
The visitors' form away from home is alarming given they have succumbed to defeat in all seven of their matches on the road this campaign.
Team News
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The hosts will be without suspended centre-back Keven Schlotterbeck, as well as defenders Dimitrios Giannoulis, Reece Oxford, Robert Gumny and Tim Breithaupt.
Augsburg are likely to select a back three of Maximilian Bauer, Jeffrey Gouweleeuw and Chrislain Matsima, with wing-backs Marius Wolf and Mads Valentin Pedersen candidates to flank the trio.
Forward Fredrik Jensen has been ruled out, and in his absence, Thorup could field Alexis Claude-Maurice and Phillip Tietz in a front two.
Bochum have a relatively healthy squad, though they head into the match without striker Myron Boadu, who will not return to action until the middle of next month.
Forward Aliou Balde is suspended, and given Philipp Hofmann and Moritz Broschinski started against Stuttgart, the pair are almost certain to retain their places in the XI.
Goalkeeper Patrick Drewes may be protected by centre-backs Tim Oermann, Jakov Medic and Maximilian Bernardo.
Augsburg possible starting lineup:
Labrovic; Bauer, Gouweleeuw, Matsima; Wolf, Onyeka, Jakic, Rexhbecaj, Pedersen; Claude-Maurice, Tietz
VfL Bochum possible starting lineup:
Drewes; Oermann, Medic, Bernardo; Passlack, Sissoko, Losilla, Bero, Wittek; Hofmann, Broschinski
We say: Augsburg 3-1 VfL Bochum
Despite losing last time out, Augsburg are in good overall form and boast an excellent record at home.
Additionally, considering Bochum are yet to win any match this season, it would be surprising if they left WWK Arena with any points.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Lewis Nolan
