Bayern to continue Augsburg’s woes
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Bayern Munich go into Friday night’s Bundesliga match against Augsburg just five points behind league leaders Borussia Dortmund. With Lucien Favre’s team stumbling in their last two Bundesliga fixtures, Niko Kovac’s Bayern could cut Dortmund’s lead to two points.
Bayern will have one eye on Tuesday night’s Champions League last-16 first leg match against Liverpool at Anfield. Despite the big European match four days later, Bayern will have more than enough firepower to defeat Augsburg away.
Kovac’s team have completely dominated Augsburg in their recent meetings. In their last 20 games against one another dating back to 2008, Bayern are undefeated in 17 matches in all competitions. Eighteen of those games featured 2.0 goals or more. Friday night’s clash should see both teams find the back of the net.
The two German teams met in late September during the first round of Bundesliga games. The fixture ended 1-1 on that occasion. However, Bayern were still coming to grips with Kovac’s style of play. The manager’s job was in jeopardy at the time, but since then, Kovac has righted the ship.
Bayern München are undefeated in nine of their last 10 Bundesliga fixtures. The only loss came against Bayer Leverkusen two weeks ago when they suffered a shock 3-1 defeat. Despite that loss, Bayern are hunting down Dortmund and could overtake them in the coming weeks.
While Bayern are second in the Bundesliga, Augsburg are mired in a relegation fight. Manager Manuel Baum’s team sits 15th just three points outside of the relegation zone. It is the same position Augsburg ended last season in after flirting with relegation. Perhaps this season will finally be their last in the Bundesliga.
If Augsburg want to survive the drop, they must improve defensively. Augsburg have allowed the fifth most goals (37). They are seventh in the fewest goals scored category with 29. Baum has watched his team win just once in their last 12 games. That win came two weeks ago against Mainz. Eight of those 12 fixtures ended in losses; and Augsburg allowed 23 goals while scoring 10 times.
Kovac will have first-choice goalkeeper Manuel Neuer back from a thumb injury. Augsburg are a perfect team to bring the German international back into the side against ahead of their Champions League match with Liverpool. Bayern should have little difficult getting past Augsburg once more. The German champions will keep the pressure on Dortmund as they pick up all three points, beating Augsburg with over 2.5 goals scored.
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