Preview: Augsburg vs Bournemouth - prediction, team news, lineups

Bournemouth will continue their pre-season schedule with a clash against Augsburg in Austria on Thursday.

The Cherries are building up towards their Premier League opener against Manchester City on August 23, while Augsburg are working towards their DFB-Pokal tie against Energie Cottbus on August 22.

Match preview

Manuel Baum is in his second stint as Augsburg boss after initially taking over the reins on an interim basis in December.

Baum, who returned to Augsburg as the club's director of development last summer, oversaw nine wins, six draws and seven defeats in 22 games to guide the Fuggerstädter to ninth place.

The 46-year-old now faces the tough task of building upon Augsburg's best finishing position since the 2015-16 campaign.

While several players have left the club, Augsburg have bolstered their ranks with seven additions, including Michael Gregoritsch and Rodrigo Ribeiro, who have arrived on permanent deals following their respective loan spells.

Baum's charges started their pre-season schedule with a 1-1 draw against third-tier Saarbrucken.

They will face a much tougher test in Thursday's friendly against Premier League opposition before they wrap up their preparations with games against Schwaz, Sassuolo and Leeds United.

Bournemouth are set to enter a new momentum campaign that will see them compete in European football for the first time in their history.

The Cherries secured a sixth-place finish and European League qualification in Andoni Iraola's final season in charge.

While Iraola has departed for a fresh challenge with Liverpool, Marco Rose has been given the tricky task of continuing Iraola's fine work, knowing it will be made all the more difficult by the challenge of balancing the domestic schedule with the Europa League league phase.

Rose will want more reinforcements before the end of the summer transfer window, with Alvaro Rodriguez the only new face in the squad at this stage.

That said, Bournemouth may feel it is even more important to retain the services of their key players, amid interest in Alex Scott, Rayan and Eli Junior Kroupi.

On the pitch, the Cherries will be looking to conclude their Austrian training camp with another strong performance after hammering 2.Bundesliga side St. Pauli 4-1 on Friday.

Augsburg friendlies form:

Bournemouth friendlies form:

Team News

Augsburg defender Chrislain is unlikely to feature amid rumours that he is closing in on a move to Premier League side Crystal Palace.

The German side could line up with a back three of Noahkai Banks, Jeffrey Gouweleeuw and Calvin Brackelmann.

Ribeiro is likely to start the game as Augsburg's central striker, although he may share minutes with Uchenna Ogundu.

As for Bournemouth, Veljko Milosavljevic was left out of the travelling party for the Austria training camp because of injury.

Tyler Adams and Rayan have linked up with their teammates in Austria after missing the start of the trip following their involvement in the World Cup, although it remains to be seen whether they will play on Thursday.

Kroupi will be hoping to get some minutes under his belt after sitting out the win over St. Pauli due to a lack of training.

Augsburg possible starting lineup:

Dahmen; Banks, Gouweleeuw, Brackelmann; Wolf, Massengo, Suso, Pedersen; Kade, Sakar; Ribeiro

Bournemouth possible starting lineup:

Petrovic; Smith, Hill, Diakite, Truffert; Scott, Toth; Gannon-Doak, Kluivert, Adli; Evanilson

We say: Augsburg 1-2 Bournemouth

Bournemouth will face a tougher test than the recent meeting with St. Pauli, but on paper, they boast a stronger squad than their German counterparts, and we believe their extra quality will see them to victory.

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