Augsburg look to make it back to back wins in 2020 for the first time when they take on Bundesliga strugglers Paderborn at the WWK Arena on Wednesday evening.
Augsburg won 3-0 away at Schalke on Saturday and looked lethal in front of goal against a really lacklustre Schalke side, who have been struggling since the leagues restart, 11 days ago.
Paderborn made it back to back draws since the league restart with a hard-fought home draw, 1-1, with Hoffenheim. They showed great resolve to get a point after conceding in the opening five minutes from Robert Skov.
Team News
No real injury news for Augsburg. Captain Daniel Baier was rested at the weekend against Schalke and could return to the side to partner Rani Khedira at the back.
Joel Sarenren Bazee opened his Bundesliga account at the weekend after coming off the bench and will be hoping he has done enough to start the game.
Andreas Luthe will be hoping his clean sheet against Schalke will be enough to keep his place between the sticks against Paderborn.
As for Paderborn, Luca Killian still remains sidelined with a thigh injury, which means Uwe Hunemeier will probably start again. Streli Mamba is back in contention and could start up top alongside Dennis Srebny.
New signing Anthony Evans will have to wait for a debut as he is still not fit enough to feature.
Predicted Line-ups
Augsburg: Luthe; Framberger, Jedvaj, Uduokhai, Max; Khedira, Baier; Sarenren Bazee, Lowen, Richter; Niederlechner
Paderborn: Zingerle; Drager, Hunemeier, Schonlau, Collins; Vasiliadis, Gjasula, Sabiri; Proger, Srbeny, Antwi-Adjei
One to watch
Augsburg- Florian Niederlechner
Only two players across Europe's top 5 leagues have reached double figures in both goals and assists, they are Jadon Sancho and Lionel Messi. Augsburg's Niederlechner is only four assists off that total now but it is in the scoring department in which he looks to break his duck. Niederlechner now has gone seven games without a goal, after hitting seven in his previous nine. If Augsburg want to push up the table and attempt qualifying for next season's Europa League Niederlechner needs to start firing again.
Paderborn- Denis Srbeny
Things are looking very bleak for Paderborn at the moment. Seven games left to go and they are nine points from safety. They are also eight games without a win, but they are unbeaten since the restart with two draws. The shining light in this team is forward Srbeny who is now hitting form at the best possible time. Srbeny has four goals in his last five Bundesliga outings including the equaliser against Hoffenheim at the weekend.
Match Prediction
Augsburg 2-1 Paderborn
Much like the previous fixture between these two sides, Augsburg should come out on top.
Back in November, Augsburg left the Benteler Arena with all three points thanks to a strike from Philipp Max.
This time around, there will be a couple of more goals. Srbeny is in a rich vein of form and home advantage does not seem to be too much of a factor since the restart, so there will be chances for Paderborn.
After that impressive victory over Schalke at the weekend, you can't see Augsburg losing this one. They will have too much for Paderborn and if they are as clinical as they were at the weekend, all three points should easily follow.