Opponent Analysis: FC Augsburg vs. RB Leipzig

Away in Augsburg!

RB Leipzig will face FC Augsburg on Saturday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. On the 21st Bundesliga matchday it is important to build on the good performance from the home game against Union Berlin and get three more important points in the race for the Champions League places.

Göz Atın

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During the coin toss, our captain Willi Orban will face a former Leipzig player in Augsburg. On the pitch, our boys will face an opponent who is unpleasant to play against, aggressive and strong in battles on the pitch. But first things first.

Form, key players, record – we take a look at our opponents!

Form 

FC Augsburg is currently in 12th place in the table and has collected 22 points so far. The cushion to 16th place, and the relegation zone is already a solid seven points. The prospect of staying in the league therefore appears good at this point in time.

Augsburg has only won one of the last seven Bundesliga games, but also played against the current top four in the table during this period. They managed to win a point against Dortmund (1:1), the games against Leverkusen (0:1) and Bayern (2:3) were only narrowly lost, only against Stuttgart (0:3) was the result clear.

FC Augsburg’s last five competitive games

• 1:1 at VfL Bochum (Matchday 20)
• 2:3 against FC Bayern (Matchday 19)
• 2:1 at Borussia Mönchengladbach (Matchday 18)
• 0:1 against Bayer 04 Leverkusen (Matchday 17)
• 0:3 at VfB Stuttgart (Matchday 16)

Key facts

FC Augsburg is the only Bundesliga team that has not yet kept a clean sheet this season. With a total of 37 goals conceded, the FCA defense ranks 16th in the league.

Augsburg continually demonstrates great attitude. They have already scored eight times this season after falling behind. This is the best record in the Bundesliga. The last time they managed to do this was last weekend, when they managed to equalize in the last minute in Bochum after being 1-0 down with a penalty from captain Ermedin Demirovic.

The Fuggerstadters are vulnerable to set pieces. Of all the Bundesliga teams, they have conceded the most goals to set pieces (14). It’s a good thing that the Red Bulls are the most dangerous Bundesliga team with 14 set-piece goals. 

Statistics

• Top goalscorer: Ermedin Demirovic (11 goals)
• Top assist provider: Ermedin Demirovic (6 assists)
• Top scorer: Ermedin Demirovic (11 goals / 6 assists)
• Clean sheets: Finn Dahmen (0x) with 37 goals conceded
   

Squad

Transfer Market

• Augsburg have strengthened their midfield twice in the winter. Kristijan Jakic came on loan from league rivals Eintracht Frankfurt. The 26-year-old immediately grabbed a regular place in the position in front of the defense and should ensure more stability in the defense with his robust style of play.
   
• The second winter signing Pep Biel, on the other hand, feels comfortable in a slightly more offensive position. Coach Jess Thorup knows the Spaniard from their time together at FC Copenhagen, most recently he played for Olympiakos Piraeus. He was loaned from there. The 27-year-old can be used in a variety of positions and should increase FCA’s goal threat.
   
• Seven players left the club in the winter: Aaron Zehnter (SC Paderborn), Masaya Okugawa (Hamburger SV, loan), Irvin Cardona (AS St. Etienne, loan), Nathanael Mbuku (AS St. Etienne, loan), David Colina ( Vejle BK, loan), Frederik Winther (Estoril Praia, loan) and Japhet Tanganga (Tottenham Hotspur, loan ended).
   

Key Players

• Finn Dahmen came to the Fuggerstadters from 1. FSV Mainz 05 last summer. The 25-year-old immediately established himself as the starting goalkeeper. Although he is still waiting for his first game without conceding a goal, he showed that he is a reliable in goal. The goalkeeper shines with strong reflexes, especially on the line.
   
• Jeffrey Gouweleeuw has been an important stabilizer in Augsburg’s defense for years. After it was announced at the start of the season that his contract would no longer be extended, the 32-year-old has now become a real pillar of the team again and therefore extended his stay in Augsburg for another year in January.
   
• The hosts have made a lot of changes this season, but Elvis Rexhbecaj was always in the starting line-up under both former coach Enrico Maaßen and his successor Jess Thorup. The 26-year-old impresses with his running strength and enthusiasm, with which he closes gaps in the defense but also moves the game forward.
   
• Ermedin Demirovic has been the captain of FC Augsburg this season. The attacker, who came from SC Freiburg in the summer of 2022 in exchange for Michael Gregoritsch, has now developed into a real goal-scoring guarantee. With eleven goals this season, he is currently the fifth best scorer in the Bundesliga.

  The Bosnia and Herzegovina international (20 international matches / 1 goal) has a past at RB Leipzig. From 2014 to 2017, Demirovic went through the RBL Football Academy before joining Deportivo Alaves in Spain in the summer of 2017. The center forward’s path led back to Germany to SC Freiburg in 2020 via Alaves, FC Sochaux, UD Almeira and FC St. Gallen.

Absentees

• FC Augsburg has to contend with two long-term absences. Right-back Raphael Framberger has been sidelined for more than six months due to a torn cruciate ligament. The break is even longer for central defender Reece Oxford, who has been prevented from doing his job for ten months due to a case of long Covid.

  Midfielder Niklas Dorsch is currently having to sit out due to persistent groin problems and attacker Dion Beljo has a muscle injury. Neither is an option for Saturday’s game.
   

Head Coach

• The appointment of Jess Thorup as head coach of FC Augsburg in October 2023 was a surprise, after all, the Dane was still largely an unknown quantity in Germany. As a player he played for KFC Uerdingen between 1996 and 1998, but as a coach he has only been active in his home country and in Belgium (KAA Gent and KRC Genk).

  Thorup also celebrated his greatest successes in Denmark, he became champion in 2018 with FC Midtjylland and in 2022 with FC Copenhagen.

  In Augsburg he succeeded Enrico Maaßen and started off with a series of six games without defeat (three wins, three draws). In his first game as FCA coach, Thorup celebrated a 5-2 away win at 1. FC Heidenheim.

  Augsburg appears courageous under him, they operate from a clear structure and are also confident of a lot offensively. The classic Augsburg virtues, strength in duels and aggressiveness in direct duels, are also not ignored.

RBL Record vs. Augsburg

Head-to-head

• 11 wins, 5 draws, 3 defeats – 34:17 Goals scored/conceded
• 7 home wins, 4 away wins
• Top Goalscorer: Timo Werner (6 goals)
• Biggest Win: 4:0 on 8. May 2022 (Goals: 2x Nkunku, Silva, Forsberg)
   

The Last Five Games

• 16. September 2023 | Bundesliga, Matchday 4: RB Leipzig – FC Augsburg 3:0
• 15. April 2023 | Bundesliga, Matchday 28: RB Leipzig – FC Augsburg 3:2
• 22. October 2022 | Bundesliga, Matchday 11: FC Augsburg – RB Leipzig 3:3
• 8. May 2022 | Bundesliga, Matchday 33: RB Leipzig – FC Augsburg 4:0
• 15. December 2021 | Bundesliga, Matchday 16: FC Augsburg – RB Leipzig 1:1
   

Where to watch FC Augsburg vs. RB Leipzig?

The game will be broadcast live on Sky from 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. To watch this you need a subscription to Sky. 

You can also follow the game for free on our RBL app – including live audio broadcast on Bullenfunk. 

And of course we are also on our social media channels Twitter, Facebook and Instagram as well as live on our WhatsApp channel. There you will get all the information and exclusive content about the match.