Augsburg will take on FC Koln in the Bundesliga on Friday, with the visitors looking to build on their win against RB Leipzig in midweek as they attempt to escape from the relegation zone.
The home team, meanwhile, are not completely safe yet, but a win against Koln would ensure that they cannot be automatically relegated this season.
Augsburg may have considered themselves a little unfortunate to lose 2-0 to Eintracht Frankfurt in midweek, with Heiko Herrlich’s side having plenty of chances to spring a surprise against Adi Hutter’s high-flying outfit.
For Augsburg, a seven-point cushion above Hertha Berlin and Koln should already prove enough to see them compete in the Bundesliga for an 11th successive season, although Herrlich will be concerned that Hertha have two games in hand and counting after their recent COVID-19 outbreak.
After a winless run of nine matches, Koln looked destined for their sixth relegation since the turn of the century, but they have kept their hopes of survival alive with a shock 2-1 win over Leipzig on Tuesday.
Julian Nagelsmann’s side, whose title hopes were all but ended by the defeat, completely dominated the first half, but as has often been the case for them in recent weeks, they failed to find the important breakthrough.
The duo’s quality and character will almost certainly prove instrumental if Koln are to have any chance of producing a great escape between now and the end of the season, with recording successive wins against Augsburg on Friday potentially required if they are to realistically keep those dreams alive.
What To Expect:
- A relegation six-pointer with seven points between the two sides.
- Koln shocked second-placed Leipzig in midweek and can drag Augsburg into further trouble who are not quite out of the relegation mire just yet under Heiko Herrlich.
- Koln have not kept a clean sheet in 14 games – the longest such run in the whole league, and have also failed to score 11 times this season. Not a good mix all in all and certainly explains why the Billy Goats are still in the bottom two.
- Neither of these two sides can be backed with any confidence so a draw could be a good shout, which will be a reasonable result for FCA.
