Augsburg vs Borussia Dortmund Preview: How to Watch on TV, Live Stream, Kick Off Time & Team News
By Charlie Stewart
Borussia Dortmund will travel to Augsburg on Saturday for their third competitive game of the 2020/21 season.
The home side have made a perfect start to the 2020/21 season, sweeping MTV Eintracht Celle aside 7-0 in the DFB-Pokal, before kicking off their league campaign with a 3-1 victory at Union Berlin.
Similarly, Lucien Favre's men have also started strong, winning 5-0 in the DFB-Pokal against MSV Duisburg and defeating Borussia Monchengladbach 3-0 in their Bundesliga opener.
The last meeting between the two sides was electrifying. Norwegian forward Erling Braut Haaland came off the bench to score a second-half hat-trick on his debut as BVB ran out 5-3 winners.
Where to Watch on TV
When is Kick Off? Saturday 26th September
What Time is Kick Off? 14:30 (BST)
Where is it Being Played? Augsburg Arena
TV Channel/Live Stream? BT Sport (UK)
Team News
Icelandic striker Alfred Finnbogason made an appearance last weekend, but will likely remain on the bench as he continues to recover from injury. Fellow forwards Marco Richter and Noah Sarenren Bazee are both sidelined.
Hertha BSC loanee Eduard Lowen is also expected to miss out, as well as long-serving Czech midfielder Jan Moravek.
As for the visitors, they're currently suffering from a number of injuries. Belgian winger Thorgan Hazard is absent after coming off early against Monchengladbach, while Dan-Axel Zagadou, Marcel Schmelzer, Nico Schulz, and Lukasz Piszczek also miss out.
However, Marco Reus is gradually making his return from a long-term lay-off and could make his first start of the season, and Raphael Guerreiro is back in contention.
Predicted Lineups
Augsburg: Gikiewicz; Framberger, Gouweleeuw, Uduokhai, Iago; Caligiuri, Gruezo, R Khedira, Gregoritsch, Vargas; Neiderlechner.
Borussia Dortmund: Burki; Can, Hummels, Akanji; Meunier, Witsel, Bellingham, Guerreiro; Reyna, Haaland, Sancho.
Recent Form
As mentioned above, Augsburg have made an ideal start to the new season, winning two out of two while scoring ten goals. Prior to this, however, they had won just one of the previous seven games.
Swiss winger Ruben Vargas has been in particularly impressive form, scoring in four of his last five outings.
BVB's convincing start comes off the back of a disappointing end to the last term, where they were beaten 4-0 by Hoffenheim - with Andrej Kramaric scoring all four.
Lucien Favre's side have wasted no time in blotting out this memory with an emphatic opening to the season, scoring eight in two games while keeping clean sheets in both fixtures.
Here is how each side has fared in their last five outings.
Augsburg
Union Berlin 1-3 Augsburg (19/9)
MTV Eintracht Celle 0-7 Augsburg (12/9)
Augsburg 1-2 RB Leipzig (27/6)
Fortuna Dusseldorf 1-1 Augsburg (20/6)
Augsburg 1-3 Hoffenheim (17/6)
Borussia Dortmund
Borussia Dortmund 3-0 Borussia Monchengladbach (19/9)
MSV Duisburg 0-5 Borussia Dortmund (14/9)
Borussia Dortmund 0-4 Hoffenheim (27/6)
RB Leipzig 0-2 Borussia Dortmund (20/6)
Borussia Dortmund 0-2 Mainz (17/6)
Prediction
If they wish to mount a serious challenge to Bayern Munich's dominance this season, then this is the sort of game that Borussia Dortmund will need to pick up three points in. Augsburg ended last season in 15th place - just one spot above the relegation play-off.
Heiko Herrlich knows that his team goes into this game as underdogs. However, with the pressure off, and his side playing well, he may be confident of pulling off an upset.
Nonetheless, with all their quality, a confident Borussia Dortmund side should have too much for Die Fuggerstadter.
Prediction: Augsburg 1-3 Borussia Dortmund