RB Leipzig can move up to third in the Bundesliga with a victory at home against Augsburg on Saturday.
The visitors, meanwhile, are still not completely assured of their safety as they are only six points above the relegation zone.
Match preview
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After losing three consecutive matches either side of the international break to crash out of the Champions League group stages and fall out of the top four in the table, wins against Borussia Dortmund in the DFB-Pokal quarter-finals and Hertha Berlin last time out in the Bundesliga have provided Leipzig with much more optimism regarding the rest of the campaign.
Indeed, should Marco Rose be able to help Die Roten Bullen retain their German cup title while guiding them into the Champions League qualification positions, that would represent a hugely positive first campaign in charge of the club given the position which he found Leipzig in when replacing Domenico Tedesco last September.
While the 46-year-old may have been living on his nerves to an extent during his side's 1-0 victory in the capital last weekend, in truth the scoreline massively flattered a struggling Hertha side, who only tested Leipzig's goalkeeper Jan Blaswich on one occasion across the course of the encounter.
Amadou Haidara's 39th-minute strike proved to be the pivotal one of Leipzig's six shots on target, with the visitors' dominant possession count of 68% helping them collect a crucial victory, which moved them back into fourth spot ahead of Freiburg.
With tricky trips to Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich still to come either side of a double-header against Christian Streich's side in the league and the DFB-Pokal at the beginning of next month, Rose's side cannot afford to drop points against teams such as Augsburg, especially at home.
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That is especially true given that Augsburg have only collected two points from their last nine away trips, although Enrico Maassen's side did at least put an end to their five-match losing streak on the road with a recent 2-2 draw against Wolfsburg.
On the flipside, though, their five-match unbeaten run on home territory came to an end at the hands of FC Koln last weekend, with Steffen Baumgart's side running out 3-1 winners to move above their opponents into 12th spot in the table.
Ruben Vargas had sparked hope of Fuggerstadter mounting a comeback at the WWK Arena by pulling one back moments before the half-hour mark, after Ellyes Skhiri and Eric Martel had helped the visitors race into an early two-nil lead. However, Linton Maina put paid to those aspirations by restoring his side's two-goal cushion after the break.
While it seems improbable that Augsburg's 12-year stay in the Bundesliga will be coming to an end this season, the fact that four of their remaining seven matches are against teams currently occupying a spot in the top seven positions will provide some cause for concern for Maassen and his players.
However, Augsburg will have opportunities against Stuttgart and VfL Bochum to put further distance between themselves and two sides beneath them in the table, making tougher matches such as Saturday's trip to Leipzig more of a free hit given the gap that they already have ahead of the dreaded drop zone.
Team News
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Christopher Nkunku's hamstring issue saw the France forward miss out on a spot in Leipzig's squad once again for their defeat of Hertha last weekend, but he could be involved from the bench this weekend.
Peter Gulasci and Xaver Schlager are both unlikely to play again this season due to serious knee and ankle injuries respectively, while Yussuf Poulsen (calf) and Konrad Laimer (illness) may not be risked ahead of trickier fixtures to come.
Having performed to a high level despite being unable to completely take the game away from their opponents at Olympiastadion last time out, Rose may be tempted to name the same starting XI, meaning that Andre Silva may have to settle for a spot on the bench for the third successive game.
Augsburg, meanwhile, will travel without Andre Hahn, Tobias Strobl and Kelvin Yeboah due to long-term knee injuries, while Ermedin Demirovic will serve the last game of his three-match suspension after being sent off against Schalke 04 last month.
Niklas Dorsch (nose) and Mergim Berisha (ankle) both missed the defeat to Koln last weekend but should be fit enough to make the trip to Eastern Germany, with Berisha likely to replace Fredrik Jensen in attack.
Germany defender Felix Uduokhai made his long-awaited comeback from recurring injuries this season to appear on the bench in Bavaria last time out, but he is unlikely to be risked ahead of an important relegation six-pointer against Stuttgart next weekend.
RB Leipzig possible starting lineup:
Blaswich; Simakan, Orban, Gvardiol; Henrichs, Kampl, Haidara, Raum; Szoboszlai, Werner, Olmo
Augsburg possible starting lineup:
Gikiewicz; Gumny, Bauer, Gouweleeuw, Iago; Maier, Engels, Rexhbecaj, Vargas; Berisha, Beljo
We say: RB Leipzig 2-0 Augsburg
Leipzig have performed with far more control in each of their recent victories, with an additional defender at the expense of Silva helping them retain possession to a much higher level.
As such, while Augsburg may be able to hang in the game at the Red Bull Arena on Saturday, we expect the hosts to take a giant step towards securing Champions League football for the fifth successive season with a vital victory.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Brett Curtis
