Vista Previa para Augsburgo – Stuttgart
Despite a 2-0 defeat on the road to RB Leipzig last Friday, Augsburg look set to name an unchanged line-up as they continue their impressive campaign and push for European qualification. Forward Michael Gregoritsch, who has nine goals to his name this season, is set to continue in attack in the absence of injured top scorer Alfred Finnbogason, with young Venezuelan striker Sergio Cordova likely to start on the bench once more.
Stuttgart eased some of the strain on their efforts to avoid relegation last weekend with a narrow 1-0 victory over Borussia Mönchengladbach. New coach Tayfun Korkut remains unbeaten in his two games in charge (a 1-1 draw in Wolfsburg the match prior), but the promoted side still have a lot of work to do over the closing months of the season. Winter signing Mario Gomez has been suffering with flu this week and is the only major doubt for Stuttgart, and should he be passed fit, the South Germans are likely to opt for the same starting XI, with match-winner Daniel Ginczek continuing to partner the Germany international up front.
In terms of betting, Stuttgart hold the single worst away record in the Bundesliga (D2 L9) and their awful record against Augsburg in recent years (see team news) makes backing the hosts the best option here. Augsburg have been at their best when playing in front of the home fans (W5 D4 L2) – very much like Stuttgart who have also performed much better at the Mercedes Benz Arena – and their strong goals per game average has been maintained by the rest of the squad – namely Gregoritsch – in the continued absence of their top scorer. Stuttgart, meanwhile, are yet to keep a clean sheet on the road, and even conceded 3 goals to the struggling Mainz 05 the away outing before last.
How will it stand at the final whistle? Well, Stuttgart’s long run without an away win will no doubt take a knock on their confidence, but should Mario Gomez feature, we wouldn’t put it past him to get on the scoreboard – Gomez has scored 5 goals in six appearances against the Bavarians. However, Augsburg are known to fight to the end (see statistics) and with their own Michael Gregortisch in the form of his life – he has tallied the best goals and assists totals of his career this term – you have to fancy the hosts here, given all the other trends. With Augsburg’s average goals scored far-outweighing those of Stuttgart’s, our money is on a strong home win.
