Augsburg vs Borussia Dortmund

WWK Arena is the venue as Augsburg and Borussia Dortmund go head-to-head in a high-stakes Bundesliga fixture.

Augsburg’s mini-revival in the Bundesliga, featuring three wins and as many draws across six league outings, ended abruptly last weekend at the hands of Werder Bremen (0-2). But after steering seven points away from the relegation zone, the hosts have enough breathing room as they bid to protect their impressive home form this Bundesliga campaign (W3, D3, L1). Dortmund’s visit to WWK Arena spells trouble, though, with Augsburg losing this corresponding fixture last season 3-0 after back-to-back unbeaten home league H2Hs (W1, D1). Manager Jess Thorup must have identified his side’s weakest link by now after ‘Die Fuggerstädter’ failed to keep a clean sheet in all seven home league outings this season. Not just that, they’ve conceded 2+ goals on four occasions, casting further doubt on their hopes of fending off Dortmund’s free-flowing attack.

In the meantime, despite letting a narrow second-half lead slip through their fingers in a 1-1 home draw against Paris Saint-Germain in midweek Champions League action, Borussia Dortmund progressed into the knockout stages as Group F winners. That’s barely a consolation for Edin Terzic’s out-of-form side as they come into proceedings winless in their last four competitive outings, including a 3-2 home defeat to RB Leipzig in the previous Bundesliga round. Anything other than a win here would probably rule ‘Die Borussen’ out of the title race midway through the campaign, as they already trail pacesetters Bayer Leverkusen by 11 points. That’s in part thanks to Dortmund’s underwhelming away league form (W2, D3, L1), bookended by a disappointing three-game winless run (D2, L1).