German Bundesliga - Augsburg vs. Hoffenheim - Preview & Prediction
With a qualification spot for the next season’s Europa League firmly in their sights, 7th-placed Hoffenheim is traveling to Bavaria, where 13th-placed Augsburg are still battling to avoid relegation. Kick-off - at 14:30 PM ET on Wednesday, June 17.
Augsburg Win At Mainz
The chances of staying in the Bundesliga for another year improved for Augsburg, who banked an important 1-0 victory against Mainz at Opel Arena on Sunday. Die Fuggerstadter controlled the ball just 34% of the time and were outshot 17-9. Still, Florian Niederlechner’s first-half snipe netted just 43 seconds after the whistle, remained the only marker of the game, with Augsburg now having scored inside the first minute of a Bundesliga match for the third time this season and seventh overall. Die Fuggerstadter has dropped just one of their past five decisions (W2 D2 L1) and are 13th in the league (W9 D8 L14), sitting seven points above the bottom three with three games remaining.
With a team-leading 12 goals and six assists this season, German striker Niederlechner has had a hand in over 40% of Augsburg’s Bundesliga markers. Goalie Andreas Luthe, meanwhile, sits 26th in the league, having stopped 22 shots thus far this year. He has collected three clean sheets in eight appearances in Germany’s top-flight and allows a goal every 90 minutes on average. Augsburg are joint-10th with Hoffenheim in most goals scored this season (42), 2nd from the bottom in most shots taken per game (10.8) and absolute worst in both ball possession (41.0%) and passing accuracy (69.4%).
Hoffenheim Lose To Leipzig
Hoffenheim’s hopes of European soccer next season suffered a little setback after the team dropped a 2-0 decision against RB Leipzig at PreZero Arena on Friday. Playing the first contest since the firing of head coach Alfred Schreuder, Die Kraichgauer outshot the visitors 24-15, but had a first-half penalty claim ruled out by VAR before the visitors netted twice in a matter of two minutes. The defeat ended Hoffenheim’s four-game unbeaten run (W2 D2) and sees the team remain 7th in the league, securing a pass to the second qualifying round of the Europa League as it stands, one point ahead of 8th-placed Freiburg.
Croatian forward Andrej Kramaric leads Die Kraichgauer with seven league markers and has already banked four strikes in eight Bundesliga meetings with Augsburg. Goalie Oliver Baumann, meanwhile, sits 6th in the league with 93 saves. He has collected five clean sheets in 27 appearances this year and concedes a goal every 51 minutes of play. Hoffenheim have scored the joint-10th highest number of goals this year (42), while recording the 9th highest quantity of shots per game (13). The team is 6th in ball possession (51.5%) and 5th in passing accuracy (81.5%).
Prediction
Even though Augsburg and Hoffenheim have different objectives in their last three remaining games of the season, with the former team trying to avoid relegation, and the latter vying for a place in the Europa League, both have posted identical records since the Bundesliga restart, going W2 D2 L2. That means an even encounter is definitely not out of the question here, especially with both teams having dropped just one of their last five decisions (W2 D2 L1). Augsburg banked a 4-2 away win in this season’s reverse fixture in December after Hoffenheim had won three games in a row in this series prior. Still, do consider going for a draw in this one, and a 1-1 at that! Three of the last four stalemates of Augsburg have already finished with both sides scoring just a single snipe, while five of the previous six Bundesliga draws of Hoffenheim have all ended with a count of 1-1.
Best bets:
Draw (+265)
Correct score: 1-1 (+455)