Borussia Dortmund have already fallen behind in the title race and will at least aim to stay within touching distance of the Champions League qualifications spots when they welcome Freiburg to Signal Iduna Park on Saturday in their 11th Bundesliga game of the campaign.
Dortmund are seventh with 16 points and lost 3-1 against Mainz 05 on November 9, while the visiting team are fifth with 17 points and drew 0-0 with Union Berlin on November 8.
Match preview
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Nuri Sahin's BVB are only one point and three places from fourth-placed Bayer Leverkusen, who currently occupy the division's final Champions League qualification spot, but they are 10 points behind first-placed Bayern Munich.
The Dortmund boss has come under pressure in recent weeks for his side's poor performances, the latest coming against Mainz, a match in which his team faced six big chances while only producing one of their own.
In fairness to the manager, BVB were in the midst of an injury crisis and midfielder Emre Can, who was forced to play as a centre-back, was sent off in the 27th minute.
Dortmund have scored 18 goals and conceded on 18 occasions, and these records make them the Bundesliga's sixth-best offensive and joint seventh-worst defensive club.
Sahin's side have lost four of their six most recent outings and have also been defeated in four and won three of their past seven league games.
Despite their struggles this term, the hosts' form at home is remarkable considering they have won all seven matches in 2024-25 at Signal Iduna Park, while also prevailing in 11 of their last 12 fixtures at home.
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As for the visitors, they will no doubt feel they should have beaten Union Berlin given Vincenzo Grifo had the opportunity to give Freiburg the lead in the 21st minute from the penalty spot but failed to score.
Boss Julian Schuster chose to focus on the positive aspects of his players' performance against Union, saying: "If you don't score a goal, it's important that you at least don't concede any. [Noah Atubolu] helped us achieve that. All in all, it's great that we managed to hold firm today against a strong Union side,"
Schuster's side have only conceded 11 times in the Bundesliga, and that figure is the fourth-best defensive return in the top flight, bettered only by Bayern Munich, RB Leipzig and Union Berlin.
Freiburg are unbeaten in their three most recent matches having drawn two and won one, and they also achieved victory in two of the three prior games.
The visitors' away form is mixed, with the club failing to win their last two on the road, and having lost two, drawn one and won two of their last five away fixtures.
Team News
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Dortmund's injury crisis appears to have somewhat eased, though they will still be without centre-back Niklas Sule until early next month, and Sahin could start Waldemar Anton and Nico Schlotterbeck in his absence.
Midfielders Emre Can and Kjell Watjen are ruled out due to suspension and injury respectively, and while Watjen is only likely to miss a few more days of action at most, BVB may select Felix Nmecha and Pascal Gross in a double pivot.
Karim Adeyemi is nearing a comeback from a hamstring injury, but he is not expected to start ahead of forwards Maximilian Beier and Jamie Bynoe-Gittens.
Freiburg have fewer injury concerns, but midfielder Daniel-Kofi Kyereh and winger Eren Dinkci are only scheduled to appear again in January 2025.
Julian Schuster may select a double pivot of Maximilian Eggestein and Patrick Osterhage in front of centre-backs Matthias Ginter and Philipp Lienhart.
In the forward line, Ritsu Doan, Lucas Holer and Vincenzo Grifo are candidates to start behind striker Chukwubuike Adamu.
Borussia Dortmund possible starting lineup:
Kobel; Ryerson, Anton, Schlotterbeck, Bensebaini; Nmecha, Gross; Beier, Brandt, Gittens; Guirassy
Freiburg possible starting lineup:
Atubolu; Kubler, Ginter, Lienhart, Gunter; Eggestein, Osterhage; Doan, Holer, Grifo; Adamu
We say: Borussia Dortmund 3-2 Freiburg
Without Emre Can in midfield offering protection for the hosts' backline, Freiburg could create a number of chances on Saturday.
Having said that, Dortmund's injury crisis has lessened and their record at Signal Iduna Park is outstanding, and Sahin's side could be boosted to victory by the home crowd.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Lewis Nolan
