Freiburg – Augsburg

The home favourite will win with a convincing victory

Before the start of the current season, Augsburg were considered by bookmakers to be one of the main candidates for relegation to the Second Bundesliga. Last season, this team managed to avoid problems in terms of keeping their place. At that time, they finished in 14th place, five points away from the 'problem' zone. It is hard to say that Augsburg made a serious step forward this season, but Enrico Maassen's charges manage to pick up points in rather unexpected conditions. For example, they currently remain the only Bundesliga club to inflict a league defeat on Bayern. Freiburg have considerably more potential than their rivals, which is reflected in their current positions. Bookmakers have suggested the home side as favourites, with their odds of victory priced at 1.51. Freiburg, along with Union Berlin, can confidently be considered one of the key clubs in the first round. Together with the capital city team, Straich's charges had long held the top two positions in the Bundesliga before Bayern took over with a long winning streak. After a two-month break, Freiburg had a disappointing start to the season, losing away to Wolfsburg 0-6. Despite such a collapse, the team did not fall apart and managed to draw with Eintracht in the last round, tying them on points. It was important for Freiburg in this match to recover psychologically and not to lose to a tough opponent. After the draw, the "incident" with Wolfsburg can be considered solved, and the home field should go with the same goal as in the first round - to win. Augsburg have lost more than half of their league games this season. However, Maassen have a diligent team, which makes up for their low level of play. As soon as an opponent fails to properly prepare for Augsburg, they immediately receive serious opposition on the pitch and lose points. The guests at the upcoming game this season not only "punished" Bayern, but also Leipzig, Union Berlin and Bayer, and last season, before that, they got on the nerves of Borussia Dortmund. However, this impressive list of Augsburg's credit goes hand in hand with defeats to Bochum, Hertha, Stuttgart and other opponents in the second half of the standings. If it's a matter of the opponent's attitude, then Freiburg will not let up and beat a defiant underdog in their home walls.