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

Two of the Bundesliga's relegation candidates meet on Friday night, when Augsburg and Hoffenheim get the weekend's action underway.

The two sides come into the fixture at the WWK Arena neck-and-neck in the table, with just two points separating them.

Match preview

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Augsburg's form has been extremely binary since the World Cup - two wins from two at home and three defeats from three away games.

Picking up those two wins on home soil were crucial though, as they had gone eight without a win in the league either side of the extended break.

Despite winning just once at home before the World Cup, they have become solid at the WWK Arena, as their two wins were both by one goal to nil.

That is in stark contrast to their away form, where their three defeats have seen Augsburg ship 10 goals.

A five-point gap between themselves and Mainz, who are a place above them, means that the bottom six have almost been completely cut adrift from the rest of the league, making this an early relegation six-pointer.

Augsburg won all four games between the sides when they met down in the fourth tier between 2003 and 2006, but since their respective meteoric rises, Augsburg have lost six of the last seven home Bundesliga games against Hoffenheim, all by two or more goals.

A 4-0 defeat here last season means that the Fuggerstadter have conceded 19 goals at home to Hoffenheim in those seven games, but the visitors are in a much different place now.

The sacking of manager Andre Breitenreiter was almost inevitable, as he led Hoffenheim on a run which saw them pick up just two points in nine games.

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New manager Pellegrino Matarazzo came in and oversaw another defeat last week at the hands of Bayer Leverkusen.

However, the appointment of their former assistant can be greeted with optimism given that he helped keep Stuttgart up last season.

He has a big task on his hands, though, to stop Hoffenheim from sleepwalking into their first-ever relegation from the Bundesliga.

They are still two points above the relegation places, but they have lost four in a row and sides such as Hertha Berlin and Schalke have been picking points up, while Bochum put five goals past them just two weeks ago.

After conceding only 13 goals in their first 12 games of the season, Hoffenheim have shipped a staggering 26 in their last eight.

That has led to relegation worries for the first time since 2015-16, a huge surprise for a side who have had two top four finishes since then.

Team News

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Augsburg have a lengthy list of injuries to deal with heading into this clash.

New signing Irvin Cardona went off on his debut against Borussia Dortmund and has not featured since, while fellow attacking options Andre Hahn and Ruben Vargas are also sidelined.

Niklas Dorsch has been taken ill this week and is a doubt, while Reece Oxford is set to miss out again with a back injury.

Teenager Renato Veiga made his debut at left-back following his arrival from Sporting Lisbon on loan, deputising for Iago, who is currently missing with an Achilles tendon injury.

Pavel Kaderabek could return from a knock to feature for Hoffenheim here.

The Czech wing-back has missed all of February's action but is close to a comeback, but on the opposite side, Robert Skov remains out.

Jacob Bruun Larsen is also out injured in a more advanced position, where Kasper Dolberg and Ihlas Bebou will battle for a place up front.

Dolberg, along with Thomas Delaney and John Brooks, were brought in during the January window, but despite their experience, they have been unable to help turn the tide.

Augsburg possible starting lineup:

Gikiewicz; Gumny, Gouweleeuw, Uduokhai, Veiga; Maier, Engels, Rexhbecaj, Jensen; Berisha, Demirovic

Hoffenheim possible starting lineup:

Baumann; Kabak, Brooks, Nsoki; Kaderabek, Delaney, Geiger, Angelino; Kramaric, Baumgartner, Dolberg

We say: Augsburg 1-1 Hoffenheim

Augsburg have improved at home, but their defence is still shaky, shown by some of their results on the road.

Under new management, it was a tough assignment last week against Leverkusen, so Matarazzo must ensure to get his team up for this one against a relegation rival.

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