Augsburg vs Schalke

A place in the DFB-Pokal Round of 16 is up for grabs as Augsburg and Schalke 04 go head-to-head at the WWK Arena.

Augsburg eased past lower-league Viktoria Koln in the opening DFB-Pokal round, winning 3-1 on the road to set up their first cup meeting with Schalke since 2010. They’ll look to return their visitors the favor for beating them 1-0 that time after pulling off a superb comeback to beat Borussia Dortmund 2-1 at home over the weekend. Jess Thorup’s men have been impressive on home turf this season, avoiding defeat in four of their five Bundesliga matches at the WWK Arena (W3, D1, L1). Interestingly, all five games featured over 2.5 goals and both teams scoring, highlighting the potential for a high-scoring contest.

Against this backdrop, two out of the three most competitive encounters between Augsburg and Schalke have produced under 2.5 goals and an evenly-poised record (W1, D1, L1). However, the visitors have suffered an epic downfall since relinquishing their top-flight status in 2023, as they enter the proceedings stuck in the Bundesliga 2. lower reaches after going winless in their last three league outings (D1, L2). Kees van Wonderen’s side thumped third-tier Aalen 2-0 in the first DFB-Pokal round, but they’ve since gone eight consecutive league matches without a clean sheet, conceding at least two goals on six occasions.