FC Augsburg will welcome Borussia Dortmund to the WWK Arena in what is a vital match at both ends of the table.

Augsburg will go into the match having suffered a disappointing narrow two-goal to one defeat against SC Freiburg that still finds them sitting in 18th place.

Augsburg will also go into the match relatively fresh due to them not being involved in any European or cup competition midweek. It also means they will have had more time on the training ground to prepare such as working on their defensive shape.

Meanwhile Dortmund will go into the match having utterly demolished Borussia Mönchengladbach by six goals to nil, it means the gap to Bayern in first is just a mere six points.

Dortmund will also go into the match having been thrown out of Europe by a stunning Rangers FC performance on Thursday as they beat them by six goals to four on aggregate. It means Dortmund will be even more determined to win the Bundesliga.

Team news

Augsburg head coach Markus Weinzierl has got a substantial injury list ahead of the match on Sunday. Icelandic striker Alfreð Finnbogason, midfielder André Hahn and Polish defender Robert Gumny are all definitely set to miss the match while Frederik Winther is a doubt.

Compared to his counterpart Marco Rose has got an injury list that seems to be evolving after every match. The latest players to receive an injury are midfielders Marco Reus  Emre Can and Thomas Meunier who both picked up a knock while playing on Thursday. 

They join Manuel Akanjii, Mateu Morey, Giovani Reyna and Marcel Schmelzer who are also set to miss the match on Saturday with Erling Haaland also being a doubt.

Predicted Lineups

FC Augsburg: Gikiewicz, Framberger, Gouweleeuw, Oxford,Iago  Caligiuri, Maier, Dorsch, Vargas, Niederlechner, Gregoritsch

Borussia Dortmund: Kobel, Wolf, Hummels, Pongracic, Schulz, Dahoud, Witsel, Bellingham, Brandt, Malen, Hazard

Players to watch

Michael Gregoritsch

Augsburg are fighting to avoid relegation at the moment and with January signing Ricardo Pepi still finding his feet tall Austrian striker Michael Gregoritsch has had to step up.

Gregoritsch is the clubs top scorer this season with six goals three clear of any other player. Augsburg will be hoping that Gregortisch can get some joy out of the Dortmund defenders in particular Mats Hummels.

Jude Bellingham

It's been a mixed week for Dortmund from beating Mönchengladbach to crashing out of the Europa league however one player that has constantly performed is 18-year-old midfielder Jude Bellingham.

Bellingham has got six goals and ten assists this season and has stepped up with the absence of Erling Haaland. Bellingham is vital for Dortmund's continued success and will be hoping that his brilliant performances get him a place in the England squad for the world cup this autum.

Last time out

The last time these two faced each other Dortmund ran out two-goal to one winners.

The match started at a relatively slow pace with both teams feeling each other out however then out of nowhere Dortmund got a penalty. Defender Jeffery Gouweleeuw committed a bad foul on Donyell Malen in the box and Raphael Guerreiro comfortably converted the resulting penalty to give Dortmund a one-goal lead.

Dortmund continued to press however then against the run of play in the 35th minute Augsburg managed to get a goal back to bring the match back to all square. Andi Zeqiri received the ball in the Dortmund box before unleashing a venomous high into the center of the goal.

Dortmund responded nearly almost instantly after half-time as they got a second in the 51st minute. This time Julian Brandt got himself on the scoresheet. Brandt received the ball on the edge of the box before curling his shot into the bottom right-hand corner.

Augsburgs best chance of the second half came in the 65th minute. Mads Pedersen did brilliantly on the wing before whipping a dangerous ball into the box however Reece Oxford put his header wide from short range.

How to watch

Fans in the UK can watch the match on Sky Sports football on Sunday afternoon while fans in the US can tune in via ESPN+

 

 

 

 

 

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