FC Augsburg – Borussia Mönchengladbach
The summer break in the Bundesliga is finally over and life is returning to the top flight. In the first Saturday conference of the new season, the interesting duel between FCA and Gladbach is on the agenda in Augsburg. The Fuggerstädter want to make amends with their own fans after their DFB Cup exit against Unterhaching.
The visitors from the Lower Rhine, on the other hand, would like to take the momentum from their 7:0 victory in the cup against TuS Bersenbrück with them and continue to ride the wave of success. Borussia also won the last match of the pre-season. Their opponents then were also Augsburg. However, the clash took place on 27 May in Mönchengladbach and the Foals emerged victorious thanks to goals from Luca Netz and Jonas Hofmann.
FCA would certainly like to prevent that from happening this time. However, FC Augsburg have never triumphed in front of their home crowd on a Bundesliga matchday before. In 2011, there was a 2-2 draw against SC Freiburg, followed by six home defeats without a goal of their own. Find out if this will change on Saturday in our Augsburg vs Gladbach betting tips.
Augsburg – Gladbach info:
- Date & Time: 19.08.2023, 15:30 Uhr
- Game venue: WWK ARENA, Augsburg
- Competition: Bundesliga, Matchday 1
- TV broadcast: Sky
Augsburg Form & Balance Check
Augsburg FC are facing another difficult season. The Fuggerstädter once again narrowly escaped relegation in pre-season and ended the season in 15th place in the table. Coach Enrico Maaßen is now entering his second season at FCA.
However, the pressure on the coach is already quite high before the start of the new Bundesliga season. Maaßen did not manage to develop his team in terms of play. Consequently, Augsburg won only one of the last eleven league games. And the men from the Lech also suffered a defeat in the DFB Cup against Unterhaching from the 3rd division in the previous week.
No canter victories
Augsburg achieved the impressive feat in the previous season of not winning a single game with a difference of more than one goal. Once they recorded a 3:2, twice a 2:1, and six times they triumphed by a narrow 1:0, a result they achieved, among others, in their last home match against Mönchengladbach.
Four of the five victories in 2023 also ended with this result. In the new season, Augsburg now want to pay more attention to playing quality again. Tim Breithaupt, who was signed from Karlsruher SC in the 2nd Bundesliga in the summer, could become an important player in this regard.
Augsburg facts & analysis
- Placed 15th in the Bundesliga last year.
- Lost 0:2 in the cup against Unterhaching the previous week
- Only one win from their last eleven games in the league
Gladbach form & balance check
Gladbach supporters were literally longing for the season to end last year. For the Foals, nothing was at stake in the league for quite some time. In the end, Gladbach finished tenth in the table. In the second half of the season, Borussia recorded only five victories, which gave their fans little reason to rejoice.
Under the new coach Gerardo Seoane, more consistency is now to return to the Niederrhein. In the first competitive match of the new season, many wheels were already in motion the previous week. The Foals won convincingly against the Oberliga team Bersenbrück with 7:0
Umbreak at Gladbach
In the summer, Borussia Mönchengladbach had to cope with the departure of their top goal scorer. Marcus Thuram scored 13 goals, Jonas Hofmann scored twelve times and Stindl and Bensebaini contributed eight and six goals respectively. In total, these players scored an impressive 39 goals for the Foals last season. This goal output corresponded to a proud 75 per cent of the total 52 goals scored in the season.
Tomas Cvancara, Franck Honorat, Grant-Leon Ranos and Robin Hack are four newcomers who should make up for the departures in the new season. All four players were successful in the DFB Cup match the previous week. Ideally, this should also be the case in the next matches.
Gladbach facts & analysis
- Placed tenth in the Bundesliga last year.
- Won 7:0 in the cup against Bersenbrück the previous week
- Only five Bundesliga wins in 2023
Predicted line-up – last update on 17 August 2023
This coming Saturday we are likely to see FCA in a 4-4-2 once again. In the Augsburg goal, Finn Dahmen will make his league debut for the Fuggerstädter. In the attacking line we expect Beljo. However, Gumny and Pfeiffer will be missing due to suspension.
For Gladbach, we expect a 4-2-3-1 for the opener. Ko Itakura has been operating on the six lately and will probably do the same for the Bundesliga opener in Augsburg. Lainer, Kramer and Koné, however, will all be unavailable to the Foals.
Augsburg – Gladbach direct comparison & statistics
The statistics of the two teams so far show a certain balance. Of the 26 previous meetings, Gladbach have won ten, while FCA have won eight. In the last encounter at the WWK ARENA, Augsburg held their own with a narrow 1:0 victory. However, Gladbach won 2-0 at home on the final matchday of the previous season.
- Gladbach won only two of their last six duels against Augsburg.
- The last Gladbach win in Augsburg was on 29.02.2020
- Both teams also met on matchday 34 of the pre-season
