Preview: Augsburg vs. Freiburg - prediction, team news, lineups

Augsburg and Freiburg will both be out to register a much-needed victory when the two sides meet at the WWK Arena for Saturday's Bundesliga showdown.

The hosts played out a 1-1 draw with Borussia Monchengladbach in their most recent outing, whereas Freiburg suffered their third defeat in a row as they lost 3-1 to Mainz last time out.

Match preview

© Reuters

After Florian Neuhaus broke the deadlock after just five minutes for Monchengladbach against Augsburg, the back of the net would not ripple for another 83 minutes in that game, but the Augsburg faithful would have been incredibly thankful that it eventually did.

Indeed, Daniel Caligiuri levelled the scores in the dying embers to ensure that Augsburg claimed a point against the Champions League contenders - a result which Heiko Herrlich's men obviously deserve immense credit for.

While Augsburg have every right to feel optimistic after travelling home from Monchengladbach with a point, Herrlich's side have slowly seen their strong start to the season fade into the background and Fuggerstadter now lie 10th in the table after eight matches.

Augsburg are only able to boast one win from their last six outings in the German top flight and will be determined to give their supporters something to cheer about at the weekend, and the visit of an out-of-sorts Freiburg side represents a prime opportunity to get a vital three points on the board.

© Reuters

Freiburg manager Christian Streich must look to arrest his side's worrying slump as soon as possible, although Breisgau-Brasilianer would have felt confident of doing so against a winless Mainz 05 side last weekend.

However, Freiburg became Mainz's first victims of the season as they suffered a dampening 3-1 defeat on their own turf, with Jean-Philippe Mateta scoring a first-half hat-trick to put the game to bed early on.

Nils Petersen's fourth league goal of the season was nothing more than a mere consolation for a Freiburg side who have now taken zero points from their last three fixtures, and Streich has not led his side to victory in the top flight since the opening weekend.

Freiburg suffered expected defeats to RB Leipzig and Bayer Leverkusen earlier this month, and the trip to Augsburg is Breisgau-Brasilianer's last chance to ensure that they can register at least one point from November's fixtures.

Both games between Augsburg and Freiburg last season ended in 1-1 draws, while this weekend's hosts have only prevailed in one of their last eight meetings with Breisgau-Brasilianer.

Augsburg Bundesliga form: DLLWLD

Freiburg Bundesliga form: LDDLLL

Team News

© Reuters

Augsburg right-back Raphael Framberger was sent off just 11 minutes after coming off the bench in the draw with Monchengladbach, and the 25-year-old will sit this one out.

However, Framberger was never likely to force his way into the team over Robert Gumny, with Herrlich unlikely to make any changes whatsoever despite Michael Gregoritsch holding out for a recall up top.

Fredrik Jensen is close to returning from injury but Saturday's game will likely come too soon for the Finnish midfielder, while Noah Sarenren Bazee and Jan Movarek remain sidelined.

Freiburg's Kwon Chang-hoon was one of several South Korea internationals to test positive earlier this month, and the 26-year-old is not expected to return to action just yet.

Lukas Kubler is struggling with an adductor problem and is set to miss this one out as well, but Amir Abrashi could come back after a mandatory quarantine period.

Lino Tempelmann lasted just 45 minutes of Freiburg's defeat to Mainz before being hauled off, and it would not be a surprise to see the 21-year-old cede his place in midfield to Nicolas Hofler here.

Augsburg possible starting lineup: Gikiewicz; Gumny, Gouweleeuw, Uduokhai, Iago; Caligiuri, Strobl, Khedira, Vargas; Niederlechner, Finnbogason

Freiburg possible starting lineup: Muller; Schmid, Lienhart, Heintz, Gunter; Sallai, Santamaria, Hofler, Grifo; Petersen, Holer

We say: Augsburg 2-1 Freiburg

Both sides will know that Saturday's game is their best opportunity to bank another three points and end the month on a high, but Augsburg are sure to be feeling more optimistic about their fortunes that Freiburg. The visitors have plenty of talent in their ranks but cannot seem to get the results that matter in the league, and we expect Augsburg to just edge this one.

Top betting tip