Augsburg will hope they can secure a win in their first game of the 2024-25 Bundesliga season when they host Werder Bremen on Saturday at Augsburg Arena.
The home side finished 11th in 2023-24 with 39 points from 34 games, while the visitors had a marginally better season having ended their campaign in ninth with 42 points.
Match preview
The hosts' domestic season got underway on August 18 when they beat Regionalliga Northeast side Viktoria Berlin 4-1 in the first round of the DFB-Pokal.
Augsburg managed to come from behind to win after they conceded in the fourth minute and took the lead in the second half when Samuel Essende scored in the 53rd minute.
Fuggerstadter sacked their previous boss Enrico Maassen in October 2023 after he had overseen a run of one win, two draws and five losses in his final eight competitive matches.
Jess Thorup was appointed less than a week later, and his side went unbeaten in his first seven games, including three wins in his first six Bundesliga fixtures.
It should be noted that Thorup's team lost their final five games of the league season, a period of losses that saw them lose 3-0 against Werder Bremen on April 27.
The visitors come into the clash having won 3-1 against Energie Cottbus in the first round of the DFB-Pokal on August 19.
Forward Keke Topp scored all three goals and capitalised on his team's utterly dominant performance.
Indeed, the Green-Whites produced 27 shots, 21 of which were from inside the penalty area, created more than four xG and had 61% possession.
The 2024-25 season will be Werder Bremen's third back in the top flight since they finished second in the 2. Bundesliga, and they improved on 2022-23's placement and points tally by four places and six points.
Manager Ole Werner's side scored 48 times and conceded 54 goals in the league last term, and this made them the division's 11th best offensive and eighth-best defensive club.
Werner's team are unbeaten in their last six competitive fixtures and have won four of those games, though they have only prevailed in four of their last 20 away matches in the Bundesliga.
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Team News
The hosts will be without goalkeeper Finn Dahmen, right-back Robert Gumny and centre-back Reece Oxford, and they also have doubts about the availability of Fredrik Jensen and Steve Mounie.
Augsburg could start summer signing Marius Wolf at right-back, and he may be partnered in defence by Jeffrey Gouweleeuw, Keven Schlotterbeck and Dimitrios Giannoulis.
As for the visitors, they will certainly be without former Liverpool player Naby Keita after the decision was made to move the midfielder on in the remaining days of the transfer window.
Elsewhere, Werder Bremen will have to deal with the absence of Amos Pieper and Dikeni Salifou.
Augsburg possible starting lineup:
Labrovic; Wolf, Gouweleeuw, Schlotterbeck, Giannoulis; Engels, Jakic, Maier; Jensen; Essende, Tietz
Werder Bremen possible starting lineup:
Zetterer; Stark, Veljkovic; Friedl; Weiser, Lynen, Stage, Agu; Schmid, Ducksch; Topp
We say: Augsburg 1-2 Werder Bremen
Although Werder Bremen ended last campaign in poor form, Thorup will benefit from having had more time to work with the squad throughout their pre-season schedule.
Additionally, if their 3-0 loss in April against Saturday's opponents is anything to go by, then Augsburg could struggle once again.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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