Preview: Augsburg vs FC Koln - prediction, team news, lineups

One of the most remarkable comeback stories in the Bundesliga continues this Friday night as Augsburg welcome FC Koln to the WWK Arena for a tasty encounter.

Die Fuggerstadter have gone from being one of the leading relegation candidates to becoming one of the toughest teams in the competition, while the Billy Goats remain desperate for points as they look to push away from the bottom three.

Match preview

After winning just three of their opening 12 Bundesliga matches under the stewardship of Sandro Wagner, the Augsburg hierarchy decided to part ways with the former German international and replace him with former teacher Manuel Baum.

The 46-year-old was only meant to take charge for three games and lead the club into the winter break, where a permanent replacement would be named.

However, Baum’s impact on the squad proved to be profound, leaving the top figures at the club no choice but to keep him in the dugout for a little longer.

According to reports in the German media, the head coach won his players over by making things simple - an obvious trait of a good teacher.

In another example of his coaching mentality, Baum internally titled a recent game with Bayern Munich as ‘a day to remember’, which clearly resonated with the team as they became the first side in the Bundesliga this season to beat the league leaders.

In the 11 matches that Baum has overseen, only Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, Hoffenheim and Stuttgart have collected more points.

Thanks to that run of form, the club have managed to drag themselves out of the bottom three and are currently sitting solidly in the middle of the standings.

Koln head coach Lukas Kwasniok was in hot water this week following his controversial reaction to a serious incident during a 2-2 draw against Hoffenheim last weekend.

During the match, one of the Koln supporters was resuscitated in the stadium but ultimately passed away. As a gesture of respect, the club’s fans refrained from providing the rowdy atmosphere normally seen at Bundesliga stadiums.

Unaware of what had happened, Kwasniok was not impressed with the lack of support, though having had the chance to digest all the information, the head coach came out to apologise at the start of his press conference on Wednesday.

Koln will now be looking to turn their attention back on the football as they look to shake off their poor run of form which has seen them win one of their last five Bundesliga outings.

Kwasniok’s men managed to earn a point against Hoffenheim last weekend, which ended their run of successive defeats and underlined Koln’s goalscoring ability.

The Billy Goats are just five points above the bottom three, and the threat of being dragged into a serious relegation fight continues as the club battles with a growing injury list.

Augsburg Bundesliga form:

D W W L W W

Augsburg form (all competitions):

D W W L W W

FC Koln Bundesliga form:

W L W L L D

FC Koln form (all competitions):

W L W L L D

Team News

While Baum’s positive impact has been immense, the club can also attribute their recent successes to having the majority of their squad available for selection.

This Friday, for instance, the team are missing two players through injuries, with Jeffrey Gouweleeuw struggling with his knee and Chrislain Matsima carrying a muscle problem.

The key man to watch for the hosts is French forward Alexis Claude-Maurice, who has seven goal contributions in seven games - this includes a couple of assists in the 3-2 victory over Wolfsburg last weekend.

Koln have not been as lucky on the injury front, with the visitors set to have several names on the sidelines for Friday’s encounter.

Joel Schmied picked up a muscle injury against Hoffenheim last weekend, and an MRI on Monday confirmed his status.

Linton Maina is expected to miss the game through illness, while Fynn Schenten is currently training individually and remains a doubt.

Sebastian Sebulonsen (muscle), Jan Thielmann (muscle), Alessio Castro-Montes (muscle), Timo Hubers (knee), and Luca Kilian (knee) are also out of action.

Augsburg possible starting lineup:

Dahmen; Banks, Schlotterbeck, Zesiger; Fellhauer, Jakic, Massengo, Giannoulis; Rieder, Claude-Maurice; Ribeiro

FC Koln possible starting lineup:

Schwabe; Schmied, Van den Berg, Ozkacar; Kaminski, Martel, Krauss, Lund; Bulter, Ache, Waldschmidt

We say: Augsburg 2-1 FC Koln

Koln are a little more desperate for points than Augsburg, but with a flood of injuries and poor form under their belts, getting anything out of this game will be a challenge.

We are putting our faith in the home team, who are looking to extend their unbeaten home run to eight games.

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