Maaßen “Looking forward to a sell-out crowd”
A home game against Werder Bremen awaits on matchday 23
First Team
02.03.2023, 14:16
After the recent defeat to Hertha BSC, FC Augsburg will be looking to show a reaction in the home match against SV Werder Bremen (Saturday 04/03, 15:30 CET). FCA, who have been very strong at home recently, can count on the support of their fans.
All tickets for the game on matchday 23 are already sold out, which FCA head coach Enrico Maaßen appreciates: “We are very happy to play in front of a sold-out crowd. You could already see in the last few games how this can inspire our team.” Augsburg have won all three home games in 2023, all 1-0, against TSG Hoffenheim, Bayer 04 Leverkusen and Borussia Mönchengladbach, and now the aim is to build on this record.
With 24 points, FCA are still in 13th place, their upcoming opponents from Bremen have six points more and sit in ninth place. The first encounter earlier in the season in September ended in a narrow 1-0 victory to Augsburg, with Rafał Gikiewicz saving a penalty in injury time. To pick up points once again, Maaßen is hoping for concentration and passion in his team’s performance, “we have to play our game and we need a top performance.”
Changes possible against Werder
While SVW beat VfL Bochum 3-0 last week, FCA were beaten 2-0 in Berlin. “Up until the goals, it was very even, but overall we were too careless with the ball and didn’t create enough goal-scoring opportunities,” explained Maaßen, who doesn’t want to rule out one or two changes in the starting line-up against Werder. Apart from long-term injured Tobias Strobl and André Hahn, as well as Felix Uduokhai and Elvis Rexhbecaj, all players are available for the 38-year-old head coach.
Niklas Dorsch, who celebrated his comeback in the starting eleven against Hertha, has also been “very impressive” in the week of training according to Maaßen, and overall there is “good competition” within the team. Together, and with a sell-out crowd, they will be looking to make it a fourth home win in a row on Saturday afternoon, which would provide added momentum, and Maaßen knows, “we still have to get a lot of points to be safe in the league, and we want to do that as soon as possible!”
