Augsburg v Wolfsburg

There’s no doubt that Augsburg have been victims of misfortune in the Bundesliga recent weeks. A called off clash against Mainz meant they only played two games in March and now, with six games beckoning in April, they’ve been overcome with a number of injuries to key players. 

The Bavarian side have been known as perennial survivors in the bottom half of the tabel, but an air of desperation certainly came across head coach Markus Weinzierl when he suggested that it will have to be “all or nothing in every game” for the remainder of the season. 

Experienced forwards Daniel Caligiuri and Alfred Finnbogason will both be a huge loss for a side that already struggles to score goals from week to week. And this weekend’s opponents should make things even tricker. 

Florian Kohfeldt’s Wolfsburg side have managed to pick up some decent results on the road lately, with a win over Eintracht Frankfurt and a 2-2 draw with Gladbach, followed by a hard-fought defeat to high-flying Freiburg. And with a fully fit front line at his disposal, the Wolves head coach should be confident of stealing a win on Sunday. 

Borussia Monchengladbach v Mainz 

Gladbach coach Adi Hutter will certainly feel like a new man this weekend, as he takes to the sidelines for the first time in almost a month after a horrid bout of COVID, which led to him needing hospital treatment. And, while Hutter was on the mend, his team also turned a corner with two victories in the Bundesliga. 

Indeed, the Foals can now lay claim to back-to-back victories for the first time since October and the team certainly look like they have a spring in their step, having scored twice in each of their last four league games. Which has been in no small part due to the turnaround in form in the team’s front two of Alassane Plea and Breel Embolo, who have bagged five goals and three assists between them in the last four league games. 

This injection of form will prove crucial on Sunday, when Hutter’s side come up against a Mainz team that have continued to impress in front of their own fans to a remarkable degree, but remain truly hopeless at picking up points on the road. 

From 12 away games this season, Bo Svensson’s side have still only managed one point and have struggled to match similarly out-of-form sides like Greuther Furth and Union Berlin in recent weeks. This clash is there for the taking for Gladbach and they should have enough about them to do it.