Hannover 96 vs Augsburg Predictions

Hannover 96 will have been very content to get four points from their last two games against Stuttgart and Bayer Leverkusen following a VERY rocky start to the season. A 2-2 draw away to the latter last weekend brought an end to a run of three consecutive defeats on the road and most importantly saw their scoring form continue. Attacking midfielder Florent Muslija made his first Bundesliga start of the season in that game and his goal saw him become just the second Hannover player to score on his first two top-flight appearances for the club. With loanee Bobby Wood having got his first goals for the club in the match prior – and his first Bundesliga brace – the North Germans look to have even more firepower to back up star forward Niclas Fullkrug, who was the third highest scoring player in the league last season.

Augsburg are their opponents this weekend and the Bavarians have been doing quite well as of late, despite how their form looks. Manuel Baum’s men became the first team of the 18/19 season to take points from champions Bayern Munich with a 1-1 draw at the Allianz Arena a month back, while also holding the in-form Borussia Monchengladbach and Leipzig to draws over the following weeks. And if that didn’t make them sound dangerous enough, then their 4-3 defeat AWAY to league leaders Dortmund just before the international break – a match which they found themselves ahead in twice – shows how capable of an upset the Bavarians are. The return of last season’s second top scorer Alfred Finnbogason has been key to their form and he’s scored four goals in just 230 minutes of Bundesliga football after returning from injury.

So what looks worth backing here? Well, after looking over everything, we feel that backing over 2.5 goals looks the best bet for the following reasons: Hannover and Augsburg have two of the best offenses of all teams ranked 9th or lower, averaging over one goal per game each, but it’s their defences – or lack thereof – that has been detrimental to their results and will be key to seeing this end high scoring. Hannover’s record – the joint 4th worst defensive record in the Bundesliga – has seen not only seen them concede a total of 16 goals, but also at least 2 goals in five of their last six league outings, including against newly promoted Nurnberg. Augsburg, meanwhile, have kept just one clean sheet themselves in eight league matches so far. And with Hannover and Augsburg ranking in the bottom half for shots on target against them, both teams should have plenty of opportunities in front of goal.

And what about a correct score? Augsburg look a well-rounded side and you might fancy them for a result here after taking a closer look at their results so far. Hannover have, however, only lost to Bayern Munich and Hoffenheim in their last five home outings (W2 D1 L2), and a typically strong home record – Breitenreiter’s men have lost in just 7 of their 20 league outings at the HDI Arena since the start of last season (W9 D4 L7) – which goes to show that Hannover are no pushovers on their own turf. Considering that and the fact that goals look the order of the day, we actually feel there’s some value to be had backing a high-scoring draw on Saturday. Our prediction: a 2-2 draw.