Augsburg to pillage points from Bavarian neighbour
Augsburg’s bid to avoid a Bundesliga relegation playoff takes them to bottom of the table Nurnburg this Saturday, with the south Bavarian side looking to continue ‘’Der Club’s’’ abysmal home record.
Hapless Homebirds
Nurnberg’s winless streak at home in the league extends back to a 3-0 victory of over Dusseldorf in September, a run of 12 games. They have failed to score in half of their last 10 games at home, the most recent blank being a one goal defeat to RB Leipzig just before the international break.
While Augsburg’s away form overall is not all that inspiring, they have achieved some more positive results prior to the week long break. A scoreless draw away to RB Leipzig sandwiched in-between home wins over Dortmund and Hannover. They come into this game knowing a win should see them move eight points clear of Stuttgart in the relegation places and Manuel Baum is usually a good man to back when given extra time to analyse and prepare for an opponent.
In Alfred Finnbogasson they also hold a big ace over the majority of sides in a similar predicaments. The Icelandic striker has had a spell on the sidelines but prior to his injury, had managed 10 goals this season. Which is more than Jadon Sancho, Serge Gnabry and Thomas Muller and tellingly more than Nurnberg’s leading marksman, Hanno Berens who has netted just 4 times.
His goals see Augsburg have a considerable better total in the goals for column (37) than all the teams around them. Nurnberg have registered just 19 in 26 games and it is this ability to find the back of the net which enhances my confidence In the Bavarians getting a result this weekend.
Manager’s view
Manuel Baum is not letting his team go into Saturday’s Bavarian derby with any complacency, saying in his pre-match press conference ‘’We travel to Nürnberg on Saturday with the mentality that we aren’t facing the team bottom of the league, instead a team who can defeat anyone on their day’’.
Betting Tip
Given Nurnberg’s pathetic home form combined with their lack of goals and Augsburg’s upturn in form right before the international break, I am plumping for an away win in the Bavarian derby, currently trading at 6/4 with Paddy Power. Augsburg will just have too much fire power in the returning Finnbogasson and Ji Dong-Won, who managed a brace in the win over Dortmund earlier this month.
