Freiburg take on Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga on Saturday, with the visitors aiming to move into the top four positions in the table with a victory.
Freiburg, meanwhile, are looking to bounce back after last weekend's disappointingly one-sided 3-0 defeat at the hands of Wolfsburg.
Match preview
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Indeed, after embarking on an excellent run in the last couple of months, Freiburg were humbled at the in-form Wolfsburg last weekend.
The Wolves dominated from start to finish, with Freiburg's lack of their usual defensive aggression embodied by John Brooks's opening goal for the hosts. Freiburg failed to clear the ball on several occasions, with a spot of pinball allowing the defender to fire the hosts ahead.
Christian Streich's side looked like holding onto a one-goal deficit heading into the half-time interval, but Wout Weghorst had other ideas, as he so often does. Renato Steffen's perfectly-weighted through-ball allowed the Dutch striker to showcase his tremendous combination of strength and composure, muscling his opposing defender out of the way before delicately dinking the ball into the opposite bottom corner to double Wolfsburg's lead.
Freiburg simply could not respond in the second half, with Weghorst coming close to adding to his tally on two occasions before Yannick Gerhardt wrapped up the three points for his side with five minutes remaining. Streich will know his players must perform much better if they are to gain a positive result against Dortmund.
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Edin Terzic will be feeling much better about himself and his team after two wins in the past week, but Dortmund still are not convincing to the level a squad of their quality should be.
They had to come from behind to win in last weekend's 3-1 victory over Augsburg, with Andre Hahn firing the visitors ahead by superbly buying himself a yard of space by jinking to his right and blasting the ball into the top far corner.
Erling Braut Haaland uncharacteristically missed the opportunity to bring BVB level from the penalty spot after smashing the bar, before Thomas Delaney's flicked header from Marco Reus's in-swinging free kick levelled proceedings heading into the half-time interval.
Raphael Guerreiro's delightfully chipped ball over the top of Augsburg's defence was perfectly played into Jadon Sancho's path, with the England winger calmly curling the ball around Rafal Gikiewicz and into the back of the net, before Haaland raced through and squared the ball, only for Felix Uduokhai to slide the ball into his own net and wrap up the win for the hosts.
Dortmund's defensive deficiencies remained clear in sight in the 3-2 win over Paderborn in the DFB-Pokal in midweek, meanwhile, with the second tier outfit coming from 2-0 down to force the game into extra time. Much to Terzic's relief, Haaland proved the hero with the winning goal, which takes them into the quarter-final in the competition which by far provides Dortmund's best hope of winning a trophy this season.
Freiburg Bundesliga form: WWLDWL
Borussia Dortmund Bundesliga form: WWDLLW
Borussia Dortmund form (all competitions): WDLLWW
Team News
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Freiburg will be without Roland Sallai, Kwon Chang-hoon, Gian-Luca Itter and Mark Flekken due to injury.
Streich may look to make a few changes after the disappointing performance in Wolfsburg, with Nils Petersen and Lucas Holer both pushing for a start in attack.
Dortmund, meanwhile, will travel to Freiburg without Roman Burki, Axel Witsel, Thomas Meunier, Dan-Axel Zagadou, Thorgan Hazard and Marcel Schmelzer due to injury.
Marwin Hitz will continue to deputise in goal.
Freiburg possible starting lineup:
Muller; Lienhart, Schlotterbeck, Gulde; Schmid, Santamaria, Hofler, Gunter; Demirovic, Holer, Grifo
Borussia Dortmund possible starting lineup:
Hitz; Morey, Akanji, Hummels, Guerreiro; Can, Witsel; Sancho, Reus, Reyna; Haaland
We say: Freiburg 2-2 Borussia Dortmund
We can envisage an entertaining match between two sides who are in excellent offensive form but can prove leaky in defence.
Freiburg have the benefit of a much more long-serving manager at the helm, and thus a more ingrained style of play, but Dortmund have the quality individuals to make up for it.
