Augsburg vs Bayern Munich Preview: Where to Watch, Live Stream, Kick Off Time & Team News
Bayern Munich will be looking to put pressure on Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund when they take on Augsburg on Friday night.
A win would take Bayern within just two points of their Yellow and Black rivals, with Dortmund not due to play Nurnberg until Monday night.
Niko Kovac's side had started the year strongly, with two wins and seven goals from their first two games, but the 3-1 loss to Bayer Leverkusen at the start of February threatened to derail their rejuvenated form.
However, two wins from their last two encounters - a thrilling 3-2 victory over Hertha Berlin in the DFB Pokal and a 3-1 dispatching of Schalke - have helped get them back on track.
Comparatively, FC Augbsurg have just one win in the league - a 3-0 trouncing of Mainz on 3 February - since the end of September, and are dangling just three points above the drop zone after the 4-0 drubbing from Werder Bremen last time out.
Where to Watch
When Is Kick Off? | Friday 15th February |
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What Time Is Kick Off? | 19:30 (BST) |
Where Is It Being Played? | Augsburg Arena |
TV Channel/LiveStream? | BT Sport ESPN |
Referee? | TBC |
Team News
The home side will be without Julian Schieber and Raphael Framberger, who are absent indefinitely with a hamstring issue and knee ligament rupture respectively. Veteran defensive midfielder Daniel Baier is also suspended due to picking up his fifth yellow of the season.
For the visitors, long term absentee Corentin Tolisso remains out with a cruciate ligament issue, though he did return to training with a ball this week. Manuel Neur also returned to training and is available to play but may not be risked, while Renato Sanches and Arjen Robben are both unlikely to feature.
Predicted Lineups
Augsburg | Kobel; Oxford, Khedira, Stafylidis; Schmid, Moravek, Stanic, Max; Ji, Gregoritsch; Finnbogason |
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Bayern | Ulreich; Kimmich, Boateng, Hummels, Alaba; Goretzka, Thiago, Rodriguez; Gnabry, Lewandowski, Coman |
Head to Head Record
The two sides have played each other just 20 times overall and, as you can imagine, the scales tip heavily in the favour of FC Hollywood. All in all, Bayern have 16 victories over their Bavarian rivals, with three wins for the Fuggerstadter (though one of these was in a friendly) and one draw rounding out the ratio.
Augsburg's last victory came in May 2015, and they have never won by more than one score. They do have some cause for optimism, however, with that sole stalemate coming in their most recent clash in September 2018 at the Allianz Arena.
Recent Form
As alluded to, Bayern have been on a reasonably impressive run of form, save for their humiliating defeat at Bayer Leverkusen.
Augsburg have not been so fortuitous, though back to back victories against Mainz and Holsten Kiel (in the DFB Pokal) did threaten to reverse this before the four-goal drubbing at Werder Bremen brought that tumbling down.
Here is how they have performed in their last five games:
Augsburg | Bayern Munich |
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Augsburg 0-1 Fortuna (19/01) | Hoffenheim 1-3 Bayern (18/01) |
Monchengladbach 2-0 Augsburg (26/01) | Bayern 4-1 VFB Stuttgart (27/01) |
Ausburg 3-0 Mainz (03/02) | Bayer Leverkusen 3-1 Bayern (02/02) |
Holsten Kiel 0-1 Aubsgurg (06/02) | Hertha Berlin 2-3 Bayern (06/02) |
Werder Bremen 4-0 Augsburg (10/02) | Bayern 3-1 Schalke (09/02) |
Prediction
With Borussia Dortmund suffering their biggest defeat of the season against Tottenham in the Champions League on Wednesday night, the Bavarians will be desperate to lay down a marker to their dispirited Bundesliga title rivals.
And, in Augsburg, they should have the ideal opposition to do so. Though the home side will have been suitably harangued for their previous showing, FCB should have too much attacking impetus for a rearguard that is still adjusting to the addition of young Reece Oxford.
Augsburg 1-4 Bayern