Borussia Dortmund will hope to continue their late push for European football when they host Augsburg at Signal Iduna Park on Saturday in the Bundesliga.
Dortmund beat St Pauli 2-0 on March 1 and are in 10th place with 35 points - three points ahead of 11th-placed Augsburg - and only seven points separate them from third-placed Eintracht Frankfurt.
Match preview
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BVB dominated proceedings against St Pauli, preventing their opponents from creating any big chances while producing four of their own.
The victory saw the hosts collect their second consecutive clean sheet in the Bundesliga, and they have in fact only conceded once in their last four games in all competitions.
Boss Niko Kovac oversaw a 1-1 draw with Lille in the Champions League on Tuesday night, but Black and Yellows fans may be disappointed with the timid second-half approach that saw their side play defensively but still fail to protect their one-goal lead.
Dortmund are on track to score 64 goals in the Bundesliga this term, and that return would be their joint lowest tally since 2014-15 when they finished seventh.
Kovac's team are unbeaten in their four most recent fixtures – winning two – and they have only lost two of their past 10 games, emerging victorious five times.
However, BVB's form at Signal Iduna park is poor, with the club failing to win eight of their last 10 outings at home, drawing five and suffering three defeats.
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Opponents Augsburg managed to hold Champions League hopefuls Freiburg to a 0-0 stalemate on March 2, a game in which they were unfortunate to not take all three points given they created nearly 1.5 xG, hit the post in the 93rd minute and limited their opponents to two shots inside the penalty area.
The visitors have failed to score in four of their last five in all competitions – though they did keep three clean sheets in that time – and their tally of 27 goals scored is the joint fourth-worst return in the Bundesliga.
However, head coach Jess Thorup oversaw a 2-1 victory against Dortmund in the league on October 26, coming back from a first-minute deficit despite accumulating just 24% possession.
While the Fuggerstadter are undefeated in their four most recent fixtures, they drew three and won just one of those games, though all four matches came against sides in the top eight.
Augsburg have been difficult to beat away from home in the past weeks, drawing two and achieving victory in three of their last five on the road in the Bundesliga.
Team News
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The hosts will be without full-back Daniel Svensson until May at the earliest due to ligament damage, and his absence may mean Julian Ryerson and Ramy Bensebaini will start either side of Emre Can and Nico Schlotterbeck.
Dortmund midfielder Felix Nmecha is scheduled to return by the middle of March, but Marcel Sabitzer and Pascal Gross are likely to start until then.
In attacker, striker Serhou Guirassy is expected to lead the line, and he could be flanked by wingers Karim Adeyemi and Jamie Bynoe-Gittens.
Meanwhile, Augsburg will have to contend with the absence of defender Henri Koudossou, Robert Gumny and Mads Valentin Pedersen, so expect Chrislain Matsima, Jeffrey Gouweleeuw and Cedric Zesiger to feature in the backline.
Midfields Kristijan Jakic and Yusuf Kabadayi are also unavailable, and that could mean Arne Maier and Frank Onyeka will start in a double pivot.
Up front, Phillip Tietz is almost certain to be trusted given striker Mergim Berisha is sidelined because of a hip injury.
Borussia Dortmund possible starting lineup:
Kobel; Ryerson, Can, Schlotterbeck, Bensebaini; Sabitzer, Gross; Adeyemi, Brandt, Bynoe-Gittens; Guirassy
Augsburg possible starting lineup:
Dahmen; Matsima, Gouweleeuw, Zesiger; Wolf, Maier, Onyeka, Giannoulis; Jensen, Claude-Maurice; Tietz
We say: Borussia Dortmund 2-1 Augsburg
Borussia Dortmund have started to pick up positive results under Kovac, and they will come into Saturday's game full of confidence.
However, they are unlikely to find their clash against Augsburg to be a straightforward encounter given their poor home form, though the visitors could fall short as a result of their limited threat in the final third.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Lewis Nolan
