Maaßen: “We have to be clinical in front of goal”
Matchday 26 away in Wolfsburg
First Team
30.03.2023, 14:39
In the first game after the international break, FC Augsburg travel to take on VfL Wolfsburg on Saturday 1st April (15:30 CEST). Augsburg are looking for their first away win of the calendar year as they look to advance up the table.
Wolfsburg have steadied their form in the Bundesliga recently are on a run of four unbeaten games, defeating Köln 2-0 last time out. FCA head coach Enrico Maaßen is expecting a hard-fought game and emphasised the importance of good chance conversion ahead of Saturday’s game. “We need a top performance and need to be clinical in front of goal.”
Maaßen will be hoping to call on the skills of Mergim Berisha, who picked up his first two full international caps for Germany, coming off the bench in games against Peru and Belgium. “We’re pleased that he was involved in both games. He has been working really hard and has returned in good spirits,” said Maaßen on his striker. The club’s other international players have returned in good shape, so the head coach has a good selection of players available for the weekend’s game. Maaßen will however be without Niklas Dorsch (nasal operation) and Kelvin Yeboah (ankle ligament), as well as Ermedin Demirović, who is serving a three-game suspension after a red card in the draw against Schalke 04.
Narrow friendly win
The weekend’s meeting will be the fourth meeting of the season between the two sides. After a 1-1 draw in the first half of the Bundesliga season, Augsburg and Wolfsburg played a pair of friendly games against each other in the winter break. “It will be another big challenge for us, but we’ve performed well in our three games against Wolfsburg this season,” said Maaßen. The most recent friendly ended in a 1-0 Augsburg win thanks to a goal from Ruben Vargas.
Maaßen is hoping for a similar outcome on Saturday. The fact that Augsburg, who have been strong at home recently, are still waiting for their first away win of the second half of the season, does not bother the head coach at all. “We’ve picked up a few points on the road. Now we obviously want to get the win in Wolfsburg to stop the conversation around it!”
