Having the opportunity to assume the isolated vice-leadership of the German Championship season 2017/2018, Leipzig receives this Friday, February 9, Augsburg. The game opens the twenty-second round of the competition. It will be held at the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig. The start is scheduled for 17:30 (BrasÃlia time).
The recent performance of Leipzig
After beating Borussia Monchengladbach 1-0 away from home on 21, Leipzig had 35 points (ten wins, five draws and six losses). He went on to share the vice-lead with Bayer Leverkusen, who has the same score, but is best when the tiebreaker criteria are used.
As the rival will only enter the field on Saturday, February 10, to face Hertha, even the draw will allow the Leipzig team to sleep in second place. However, it will hardly be enough to secure that position until the end of the round.
That’s because the fight for second place is fierce. The difference between Leverkusen, current runners-up, and Frankfurt, sixth, is only two points. Thus, depending on the competition of results, five teams can complete the journey in the vice-leadership.
This fight is what has been the center of attention in the Bundesliga, as the title is ever closer to Bayer Munich, which reached 53 points. Remaining 13 rounds to the end, hardly such a situation will be reversed.
To try to win on Friday and increase his chances of repeating the runners-up win the previous season, coach Ralph Hasenhutti depends on the medical department’s definition of two athletes who are considered absolute holders.
Chief among them is Swedish midfielder and striker Emil Fosberg (12 matches in the 2017/2018 German Championship, one goal). It has not been around since early December. The other is defender Marcel Halstenberg (15 games, two goals), who also injured at the end of last year and has not yet appeared in 2018.
The current form of Augsburg
Augsburg also have a chance of getting into the fray for both the runners-up and a place in European tournaments next season. With 31 points (eight wins, seven draws and six losses), the team is seventh, the first out of the elite squad.
In the previous round, he won a major victory in the fray to reach that goal. At home, he scored 3-0 at Frankfurt, who are sixth with two points more.
Manuel Baum is left to make his team win outside the home, which has not happened for three rounds. In the last matches of Augsburg as a visitor, the team suffered two defeats and managed only a draw.
To try to change this scenario the coach will also have to deal with three medical problems in important players. Defenders Jeffrey Gouweleeuw (20 matches in the 2017/2018 German Championship without a goal) and Daniel Opare (17 matches, no goal) are in the ward; and striker Alfred Finnbogason (18 games, 11 goals).
History of the bouts between Leipzig and Augsburg
Augsburg take advantage in the brief retrospective of Leipzig. He won three of five games. Of the other two, Leipzig won one and the other was registered equality. In the first round of the Bundesliga season, Augsburg scored 1-0.
With the Bundesliga’s second-best home advantage, Leipzig is the best guess for Friday’s game against Augsburg. The price is 1.70 on Bet365. Draw shows return of 3.80 and success of visitors allows the multiplication of the investment by 5.00. Quotes were in effect at 9:02 am on 8/2/2018.