Stuttgart vs. Augsburg preview: Two closely-matched sides face off | OneFootball

Stuttgart

Stuttgart have been unable to match the success of last season’s top-four finish, with die Schwaben currently sitting in 10th place after collecting 44 points from their 32 league matches. They will not play in the Champions League next season, but they could still qualify for the Europa League by winning the DFB-Pokal. Stuttgart will have the chance to win the cup competition for the first time since 1996-97 when they face third-tier Arminia Bielefeld in the final later this month.

However, before they head to Berlin, Stuttgart will have to negotiate their final two Bundesliga matches against Augsburg and RB Leipzig. Sebastian Hoeneß’s side will have the chance to claim back-to-back victories this weekend after they recorded a narrow 1-0 win over St. Pauli last Saturday. Nick Woltemade netted an 88th-minute winner to bring an end to Stuttgart’s three-game winless run.

After claiming three points on the road, Stuttgart will now return to the MHP Arena, where they have lost each of their last six league matches since beating Freiburg 4-0 in January. However, they did pull off a home win in the DFB-Pokal quarter-final clash against Augsburg in February. That result represented their sixth win in the last seven head-to-head meetings (D1).

Team News

The hosts are unable to call upon Dan-Axel Zagadou, Luca Raimund, Leonidas Stergiou, Anrie Chase and Ameen Al-Dakhil. They are also without forward El Bilal Touré, although he is pushing to return for the final game of the season.

Augsburg

Augsburg are just a point behind Stuttgart in 11th place after winning 11, drawing 10 and losing 11 of their 32 league matches this season. The Fuggerstädter will be frustrated with their current position, given the fact that they were just four points adrift of the top six after 26 matches. However, they have ultimately fallen away from the European places following a poor run of form that has seen them win just once in six matches.

In fact, they have taken just one point from three matches since they recorded a 2-1 away win over Bochum on April 12. Augsburg followed that result with a goalless draw against Eintracht Frankfurt, before they fell to consecutive defeats against Bayer Leverkusen and Holstein Kiel. Their hopes of ending their winless run will be tempered by the fact that they have not beaten Stuttgart since they recorded a 4-1 home win in October 2021. Meanwhile, they have not won a head-to-head away game since November 2015.

Team News

Augsburg remain without long-term absentee Yusuf Kabadayi, while Mergim Berish will miss a third consecutive game with a muscle injury.