Augsburg vs Bayern Munich 16/02/19

16 February 2019

The Bundesliga relegation fighters and title contenders go head-to-head at the WWK Arena, as a vulnerable Augsburg team tackle Bayern Munich.

Currently sitting three points above the danger zone, the relegation-threatened hosts have been struggling to find a way out of a severe crisis. Not only Augsburg won just one of their last 12 Bundesliga outings (W1, D3, L8) but their tally of four wins after the opening 21 league fixtures remains the joint third-lowest. Manuel Baum’s poor run of form with Augsburg continues to bother the home fans as their team conceded 2+ match goals in five of their previous six league games, failing to hit the net twice in the sequence. The Fuggerstädter’s defensive frailties have seen them failed to preserve a clean slate in 19 BL clashes this campaign, which is the joint-worst defensive record in the German top tier. Nonetheless, Augsburg usually go all out at home, which is why 70% of their home games produced over 2.5 goals while 80% saw goals on both ends.

On the other hand, the visitors took full advantage of Borussia Dortmund’s stalemate last weekend to reduce the gap to five points. The Bavarians come into this meeting off the back of an outstanding 3-1 home win over Schalke 04 as they now look to stretch a four-game road winning streak against Augsburg. In that sequence, the Reds have scored over 2.5 goals per match every single time, while restricting their rivals to a maximum of one match goal in the process. Another promising fact for the reigning holders is that no team has scored more goals away from home than them (25), with Niko Kovac’s men bagging 2+ match goals on nine of 11 BL road trips this term. However, Kovac’s biggest concern is the fact his players have failed to keep a clean sheet in seven BL away clashes, allowing over 1.5 goals per match three times already.

Provisional line-up – Augsburg:

Gk: Gregor Kobel Defense: Stafylidis – Philipp Max – Daniel Baier – Jan Moravek – Reece Oxford Midfield: Rani Khedira – Schmid Attack: Gregoritsch – Ji Dong-Won – Finnbogason

Provisional line-up – Bayern Munich:

Gk: Neuer Defense: Alaba – Jerome Boateng – Hummels – Kimmich Midfield: Thiago Alcantara – Goretzka – James Rodriguez Attack: Kingsley Coman – Gnabry – Lewandowski