Wolfsburg will look to end their lengthy winless run when they welcome Augsburg to the Volkswagen Arena on Saturday.
Hopeless form from the current bottom three is the only thing keeping Wolfsburg out of a relegation battle at present, while Augsburg have moved away from trouble and are now threatening the European places.
Match preview
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Wolfsburg enter the weekend still on 25 points after another defeat last weekend, sitting in 13th, level with Union Berlin and VfL Bochum just above the drop zone.
Defeat was expected last time out, but Niko Kovac's side did give it a good fight, playing an hour with 10 men against unbeaten league leaders Bayer Leverkusen after Moritz Jenz's red card, before succumbing to a 2-0 loss.
However, that has extended their winless run to 10 games in the Bundesliga, the worst such set of results the club have suffered in the 21st century, as they are simply relying on the sides below them not being able to catch up.
Only bottom-of-the-table Darmstadt have fewer points across that 10-game spell, so they must be wary in case Koln and Mainz can mount a resurgence late on in the season.
Augsburg have not been welcome visitors to this stadium since their promotion in 2012 though, as in the 12 clashes here, Wolfsburg have won just three, but one was by an emphatic 8-1 scoreline in 2019.
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While the hosts cannot buy a win at the moment, the same cannot be said for Augsburg, who have suddenly emerged as European candidates, despite being near the bottom just three weeks ago.
Jess Thorup's side find themselves ninth, just one point behind seventh-placed Hoffenheim; a remarkable feat considering before their current three-game winning run, they were just two places above the drop zone.
Augsburg made it back-to-back wins on home soil by seeing off Heidenheim last weekend, after getting their current spurt of winning form going with a victory over Freiburg.
Wedged in between those successes was a 6-0 demolition of Darmstadt, where Throup saw his side race into a five-goal lead in the opening half-hour away from home.
As the top six looks almost sorted in the Bundesliga, seventh place could well earn a spot in Europe if Leverkusen are able to win the DFB-Pokal, where there are two second-tier sides and a third-tier club left in the semi-finals, and Augsburg are now real contenders for that spot.
Team News
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Wolfsburg will be without defender Jenz after he was sent off in the first half at the BayArena last weekend.
Joining Jenz on the suspension list is Yannick Gerhardt, whose yellow card against Leverkusen has also triggered a suspension for this encounter, but Joakim Maehle will return from a ban of his own which he served against the league leaders.
Elsewhere on the sidelines, Jakub Kaminski is doubtful with illness, but Lukas Nmecha is closing in on a return here after a muscle injury.
Augsburg will be able to welcome Mads Pedersen back from suspension after he sat three games out following an ugly challenge which saw him dismissed against Mainz.
A foot injury for Niklas Dorsch means the midfielder will miss out here though, joining Patric Pfeiffer and Raphael Framberger on the treatment table for the visitors.
Wolfsburg possible starting lineup:
Casteels; Baku, Lacroix, Bornauw, Rogerio; Vranckx, Arnold; Majer, Cerny, Paredes; Behrens
Augsburg possible starting lineup:
Dahmen; Gumny, Bauer, Uduokhai, Iago; Jensen, Jakic, Maier, Vargas; Tietz, Demirovic
We say: Wolfsburg 1-1 Augsburg
In the midst of a 10-game winless run, and with just one clean sheet in 19 games - against Darmstadt - Wolfsburg do not exactly bring much confidence or momentum into this clash.
Augsburg have catapulted themselves up the table in recent weeks and will feel extremely confident of picking up another result here against ailing opponents.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Andrew Delaney
