Preview: Augsburg vs Borussia Dortmund - prediction, team news, lineups

Borussia Dortmund will be looking to end their losing run against Augsburg when they travel to the WWK Arena for a tasty Bundesliga clash this Friday night.

Die Fuggerstadter completed a rare season double over Die Borussen last term, though their hopes of making it a hat-trick are slender following a serious slump in recent form.

Match preview

The new season kicked off on a positive note for Augsburg, with the team not only winning their first two competitive games but also taking defending champions Bayern Munich into deep waters during a 3-2 defeat.

Unfortunately for Sandro Wagner and his men, there has not been much to shout about in recent weeks owing to a run of five defeats from their last seven competitive games.

Augsburg’s last two outings were particularly painful, with the team suffering an almighty 6-0 home spanking at the hands of RB Leipzig before bowing out of the DFB Pokal following yet another home defeat – a 1-0 loss against second-tier VfL Bochum.

Wagner’s men have tasted one measly win since late August, leaving them 15th in the table and just three points above the bottom three.

The club are no strangers to the bottom half of the Bundesliga table, having last finished in the top nine back in 2015-16.

Nevertheless, with Augsburg struggling to score goals and enduring even worse problems at the back, the pressure is beginning to ramp up on Wagner as the season rolls on.

Borussia Dortmund, meanwhile, find themselves in a very familiar position – sitting in the top four but already well behind arch-rivals Bayern Munich.

Niko Kovac and his men missed their opportunity to put pressure on the Bavarians, falling to a 2-1 defeat in Der Klassiker a couple of weeks ago.

The loss at the Allianz Arena leaves Die Borussen seven points behind in the title race, though there is little they can currently do considering Bayern have won all eight of their Bundesliga matches so far.

As Dortmund wait for an unlikely slip-up from their rivals, their immediate focus will turn to Augsburg – a team they have failed to beat in their last two outings.

The German giants lost both of their games against Fuggerstadter last season – both by one goal – and they have only picked up one win against them in four outings.

Despite this, with Augsburg enduring a collapse in form and Dortmund coming into this game on the back of a couple of competitive victories, the visitors will be looking to do some serious damage as they head to the WWK Arena.

Augsburg Bundesliga form:

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Augsburg form (all competitions):

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Borussia Dortmund Bundesliga form:

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Borussia Dortmund form (all competitions):

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Team News

Augsburg’s Keven Schlotterbeck was an unused sub in the 6-0 defeat against RB Leipzig last weekend, and he only came on for 11 minutes in the defeat to Bochum on Tuesday.

With that in mind, the defender is unlikely to feature against his younger brother Nico, who has been a regular starter for Dortmund since returning from his knee injury.

Speaking of knee issues, Jeffrey Gouweleeuw will not be available for selection as he continues his recovery from a problem which has seen him miss six games.

Frenchman Alexis Claude-Maurice has led the attack for Augsburg in recent weeks, though considering he has not found the back of the net since February, youngster Mert Komur may get an opportunity to start after recovering from an illness.

Borussia Dortmund, on the other hand, welcomed Aaron Anselmino back from injury on Tuesday night, with the 20-year-old featuring in the DFB-Pokal win over Eintracht Frankfurt.

Emre Can and Julien Duranville both remain on the sidelines with injuries, though the latter recently marked his return to training following his issues with a shoulder problem.

Star striker Serhou Guirassy will be looking to end his ongoing Bundesliga goal drought, with the player last rattling the net in a league fixture back in mid-September.

Jobe Bellingham performed well against Frankfurt on Tuesday, though he is expected to return to the substitutes' bench this weekend, considering he has not started a Bundesliga game since August.

Julian Brandt scored in that game against Frankfurt, but he too is likely to return to the bench, having not started a Bundesliga game in over a month.

Augsburg possible starting lineup:

Dahmen; Banks, Matsima, Jakic; Giannoulis, Fellhauer, Massengo, Kade; Saad, Rieder; Komur

Borussia Dortmund possible starting lineup:

Kobel; Bensebaini, Schlotterbeck, Anton; Svensson, Nmecha, Gross, Ryerson; Chukwuemeka, Adeyemi; Guirassy

We say: Augsburg 1-3 Borussia Dortmund

Augsburg may have done the double over Dortmund last season, though a lot has changed since their last encounter.

The hosts are in a real hole at the moment, struggling to score and facing serious problems in defence. We expect the visitors to capitalise on those vulnerabilities and come away with an emphatic win.

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