Fortuna Dusseldorf will be looking to boost their hopes of avoiding relegation from the Bundesliga when they welcome Augsburg to the Merkur Spiel-Arena on Saturday afternoon.
Dusseldorf are currently 16th in Germany's top flight, five points behind 15th-placed Mainz and six behind 14th-placed Augsburg ahead of this weekend's key contest.
Match preview
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Six wins, 11 draws and 15 defeats - that is how Dusseldorf have performed in the Bundesliga during the 2019-20 campaign, picking up just 29 points from their 32 matches to sit 16th in the table.
They are five points behind 15th-placed Mainz at this stage and can therefore still move above the bottom three but would have to pick up a positive result on Saturday afternoon.
Dusseldorf finished 10th in Germany's top flight last term but have struggled for consistency this season and have only picked up one victory since returning to action in the middle of May.
Indeed, they beat Schalke 04 2-1 at the end of last month but have picked up just two points from their last four matches, losing to Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund in the process.
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Augsburg have not played outside of the Bundesliga since the 2010-11 campaign and actually finished as high as fifth in 2014-15.
Heiko Herrlich's team are currently 14th in the division, six points clear of 16th-placed Dusseldorf, and it would be a surprise if they were pulled into the mix at this stage of the campaign.
Augsburg have struggled for consistency since returning to action in the middle of May, although they have picked up victories over Schalke and Mainz 05, which has put them in a decent position at this stage in terms of staying clear of trouble.
Fuggerstadter will enter this match off the back of a disappointing 3-1 home defeat to Hoffenheim, though, and will be wary of suffering another loss this weekend ahead of their final game against RB Leipzig.
Dusseldorf Bundesliga form: DWLDLD
Augsburg Bundesliga form: WDLDWL
Team News
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Dusseldorf will be able to recall Niko Giesselmann after the defender missed out against Leipzig through suspension, but Tim Wiesner, Aymen Barkok and Oliver Fink are still on the sidelines through injury.
There are not expected to be too many surprises from the side that picked up an impressive 2-2 draw last time out, with goalscorers Andre Hoffmann and Steven Skrzybski both keeping their spots.
Valon Berisha is also expected to feature in a midfield spot for the relegation-threatened hosts.
As for Augsburg, Jan Moravek, Sergio Cordova, Iago and Simon Asta are still on the sidelines through injury, but Herrlich's team did not pick up any fresh concerns against Hoffenheim.
English midfielder Reece Oxford came off the bench in Augsburg's last match and could be in contention to start, while Florian Niederlechner is an option in the final third of the field.
Alfred Finnbogason started against Hoffenheim, but Niederlechner has scored 12 Bundesliga goals this term and is likely to return to the tip of the attack.
Dusseldorf possible starting lineup:
Kastenmeier; Ayhan, Hoffmann, Giesselmann; Zimmermann, Berisha, Sobottka, Suttner; Hennings, Skrzybski
Augsburg possible starting lineup:
Luthe; Lichtsteiner, Gouweleeuw, Suchy, Jedvaj; Baier, Gruezo; Max, Lowen, Vargas; Niederlechner
We say: Dusseldorf 1-0 Augsburg
There is no downplaying the importance of this weekend's match, particularly for the hosts. Augsburg are certainly capable of picking up a strong result, but Dusseldorf were impressive against Leipzig last time out, and we fancy the home side to pick up a big three points at the Merkur Spiel-Arena.
Matt Law
Data 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 Fortuna Dusseldorf win with a probability of 44.17%. A win for Augsburg had a probability of 30.36% and a draw had a probability of 25.5%.
The most likely scoreline for a Fortuna Dusseldorf win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.08%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.08%) and 2-0 (7.56%). The likeliest Augsburg win was 0-1 (8.06%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.09%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 12.1% likelihood.
