Preview: Augsburg vs Bayern Munich - prediction, team news, lineups

Chasing down their Bundesliga title rivals, Bayern Munich will travel to face Augsburg at WWK Arena on Friday.

Die Fuggerstadter will be hoping to avoid another defeat after returning from the international break, while the Bavarians could earn a fourth win on the bounce.

Match preview

Manuel Baum's Augsburg kicked off the 2026-27 season in strong fashion, but it would be fair to say their momentum has stalled recently.

Die Fuggerstadter thoroughly beat Schalke 04 3-0 on matchday one, before hammering Eintracht Frankfurt 4-1 a week later.

However, Baum's side were held to a 2-2 draw by Bayer Leverkusen on September 12, a clash that saw the advantage earned through Michael Gregoritsch's brace cancelled out by an 89th-minute equaliser from Patrik Schick.

Augsburg took that concerning frailty one step further in their last league outing, surrendering a two-goal lead in a frustrating 3-2 defeat against Werder Bremen.

As things stand, Die Fuggerstadter remain fourth in the Bundesliga table, though their position in the European places is already under threat given they are level on seven points with Leverkusen, Mainz 05, Elversberg and Die Werderaner.

Baum's men will need to stamp out their defensive weakness if they are to have any chance of walking away with something from Saturday's showdown, but fans will have doubts considering the team drew 2-2 in a friendly with second-division side Hertha Berlin earlier this month - the third consecutive game in which they conceded twice.

Meanwhile, Vincent Kompany's Bayern are unbeaten across all competitions this season, but they are yet to reclaim their usual place at the top of the pile in the Bundesliga.

The Bavarians are currently second in the league, two points behind Klassiker rivals Borussia Dortmund, who have won all four of their top-flight outings so far.

Kompany's side will be full of confidence ahead of Saturday, having come out on top in six of their seven matches overall in 2026-27, only falling short of victory when they were held to a 0-0 stalemate by newly-promoted Schalke on September 5.

That being said, Augsburg represent a unique opponent considering they were the only team capable of beating Bayern in any of their last 47 league matches - 2-1 at the Allianz Arena on January 24.

On the other hand, supporters will not be too concerned given that the Bavarians have triumphed in seven of their last eight meetings with this weekend's hosts.

Augsburg Bundesliga form:

Augsburg form (all competitions):

Bayern Munich Bundesliga form:

Bayern Munich form (all competitions):

Team News

Augsburg will be without 19-year-old centre-back Noahkai Banks, who suffered a knee (lateral ligament) injury while on international duty with Germany's Under-21s.

In his absence, Calvin Brackelmann, Jeffrey Gouweleeuw and Chrislain Matsima should be on hand to form Baum's defensive trio, flanked by wing-backs Marius Wolf and Hennes Behrens.

Elsewhere, midfielder Tim Breithaupt remains sidelined with a toe injury, and is set to sit out Saturday's clash, along with striker Steve Mounie.

That being said, Han-Noah Massengo and Fabian Rieder should start in the centre of the park, behind the more attack-minded Alexis Claude-Maurice and Robin Fellhauer, who will be supporting Michael Gregoritsch up top.

As for Bayern, they are missing attacking midfielder Jamal Musiala, who tore a muscle fibre in his right thigh during the warm up for Germany's clash against the Netherlands.

While the 23-year-old is recovering in individual training, Ismael Saibari could operate in the number 10 role, joining Michael Olise and Luis Diaz in supplying Ballon d'Or nominee Harry Kane.

Augsburg possible starting lineup:

Dahmen; Brackelmann, Gouweleeuw, Matsima; Wolf, Massengo, Rieder, Behrens; Fellhauer, Claude-Maurice; Gregoritsch

Bayern Munich possible starting lineup:

Neuer; Laimer, Upamecano, Tah, Davies; Pavlovic, Kimmich; Olise, Saibari, Diaz; Kane

We say: Augsburg 1-3 Bayern Munich

Augsburg have proven defensively frail in recent weeks, and they are likely to suffer a straightforward defeat unless they can overcome that glaring issue.

Bayern's immense attack will be confident up against the hosts' struggling backline, and the visitors look set to collect all three points once again.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.