Borussia Dortmund vs Augsburg

Bundesliga top-four hopefuls Borussia Dortmund entertain perennial bottom-half strugglers Augsburg to Signal Iduna Park for a high-stakes encounter.

Borussia Dortmund carried a two-game losing Bundesliga streak into the World Cup break. Having fallen two points behind Champions League spots, ‘Die Borussen’ will hope to recover from their worst 15-match top-flight start since 2015/15 (W8, D1, L6). Playing at home should aid their cause, with Edin Terzic’s side going unbeaten in their last five Bundesliga fixtures at Signal Iduna Park (W4, D1), with each of those four victories coming ‘to nil.’ Conceding first could put a serious dent into Dortmund’s bid to return to winning ways, as they’ve gone winless in all three home league outings in which their opposition drew first blood this season (D2, L1). Interestingly, the hosts boast the longest unbeaten run of year-opening league contests in Bundesliga history (W13, D5).

In the meantime, visiting Augsburg entered the mid-season hiatus on the back of the longest ongoing winless run in the Bundesliga (D3, L4), languishing just a point clear of the relegation line. Encouragingly for manager Enrico Maaßen, his men have registered a clear majority (66%) of their Bundesliga points this season away from home (10/15). Against this backdrop, they’ve lost their last four league visits to Dortmund. At risk of suffering five consecutive defeats away to specific opposition for only the second time in their top-flight history, the ‘Fuggerstädter’ have to address an underwhelming three-game winless Bundesliga streak on the road (D1, L2) if they’re to avoid meeting an unwanted piece of history this weekend.