Competition: German Bundesliga 2016-17
Date: Friday, 17th February, 19:30 GMT
Stadium: WWK Arena.


Augsburg vs Bayer Leverkusen Preview

Augsburg has been on a rise lately being unbeaten in four of their last six outings. The team has remained in the 13th spot of the 18-team German top flight table, though, eight points above the bottom three relegation zone and nine points below sixth-place team Hertha Berlin and the final Europa League qualifying berth for the next term.
The Fuggerstädter snapped a two-game winning run as they lost to fellow lowly side Mainz, 0-2, on the road at the Coface Arena last Friday, as per SkySports.

German midfielder Levin Oztunali opened the scoring for Mainz in the 31st minute before Spanish midfielder Jairo Samperio doubled the hosts’ lead with a penalty kick in the 62nd.
It was the second loss of head coach Manuel Baum’s squad in their last four matches.
Meanwhile, Bayer Leverkusen is reeling at the moment with two consecutive defeats. The team has been winless in four of their last six outings and has dropped to the ninth place in the overall standings. They are now six points behind Hertha Berlin and seven points below Borussia Dortmund and the final UEFA Champions League spot for next season.

In their most recent Bundesliga fixture on Feb. 3, Bayer was nipped by lowly squad Hamburg, 0-1, on the road at the Imtech Arena, Fox Sports Asia reported.
Bayer’s own on-loan player, Greek defender Kyriakos Papadopoulos, scored the winning goal of the match for Hamburg in the 76th minute with a header from the center of the box off an assist by Nicolai Müller following a set piece situation.
It was the first goalless performance of head coach Roger Schmidt’s side in the last 12 rounds.
Prediction and Predicted Lineup

The predicted result is a close 2-1 decision for Bayer Leverkusen.

FC Augsburg starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Hitz; Verhaegh, Gouweleeuw, Hinteregger, Max; Rieder, Baier; Schmid, Ji, Stafylidis; Bobadilla

Bayer Leverkusen starting lineup (4-4-2 formation): Leno; Henrichs, Tah, Toprak, Wendell; Bellarabi, Aranguiz, Baumgartlinger, Kampl; Mehmedi, Volland