Freiburg host Eintracht Frankfurt in a top-four battle in the Bundesliga on Wednesday evening.
Frankfurt moved up to second by beating Schalke 04 3-0 at the weekend, while Freiburg were thrashed 6-0 away to Wolfsburg.
Match preview
© Reuters
Indeed, having headed into the break for the World Cup in second position behind league leaders Bayern Munich, few people could have foreseen the nature of Freiburg's defeat to Wolfsburg on Saturday.
While Niko Kovac's side's undoubted improvement is evident by the fact that they recorded a fifth consecutive league win against Christian Streich's side, the 57-year-old may be hugely concerned by his side seemingly lacking match preparation ahead of their trip to Lower Saxony.
The Wolves sunk their teeth into Breisgau-Brasilianer three times in each half, with Patrick Wimmer scoring inside the first minute before Jonas Wind's brace essentially ended the match as a contest before the break.
With his side through to the last 16 of the Europa League and the DFB-Pokal, Streich will hope that their first game back after the World Cup was a complete blip which they can use as motivation ahead of fighting on three fronts, but it is far from ideal timing to be facing a Champions League qualification rival in the shape of Frankfurt this week.
© Reuters
After all, Frankfurt leapfrogged Freiburg in the table by securing their third win in four league games against Schalke at Deutsche Bank Park, although the 3-0 scoreline arguably flattered the hosts.
Oliver Glasner's side looked set for a comfortable afternoon against the Bundesliga's rock-bottom team when Jesper Lindstrom opened the scoring after 21 minutes, but they had to wait over an hour to double their lead through substitute Santos Borre, before Aurelio Buta added gloss to their victory in injury-time.
However, their struggling opponents had more shots on target and possession across the course of the 90 minutes, suggesting that last season's Europa League winners' performance levels may take some time before getting back to their peak range.
With their opponents likely to be determined to bounce back from a humiliating defeat at the weekend, Frankfurt may well need to find an extra gear if they are to return home with another positive result ahead of facing DFB-Pokal and Champions League ties of their own next month.
Team News
© Reuters
Vincenzo Grifo missed his side's thrashing at the hands of Wolfsburg through illness, and the winger remains a doubt to feature in midweek. Roland Sallai is definitely ruled out due to a muscle injury.
Philipp Lienhart was surprisingly only called upon from the bench during Freiburg's defeat, and the central defender is likely to be one of at least a few changes given Streich's understandably scathing assessment of his players after the match.
Frankfurt, meanwhile, will travel without Eric Ebimbe after the wing-back suffered an ankle injury during their win against Schalke on Saturday. Ansgar Knauff will likely switch to the right side, with Christopher Lenz handed the nod at left wing-back should Luca Pellegrini's calf issue keep him sidelined as expected.
Sebastian Rode could come into the midfield at the expense of either Daichi Kamada or Mario Gotze in order to provide more solidity in the engine room, but Randal Kolo Muani should keep his place in attack despite Borre scoring from the bench last time out.
Freiburg possible starting lineup:
Flekken; Kubler, Ginter, Lienhart, Günter; Keitel, Hofler; Doan, Kyereh, Holer; Gregoritsch
Eintracht Frankfurt possible starting lineup:
Trapp; Jakic, Smolcic, N'Dicka; Knauff, Rode, Sow, Lenz; Lindstrom, Gotze; Muani
We say: Freiburg 1-1 Eintracht Frankfurt
Freiburg could play with a less expansive style than usual after their heavy defeat at the weekend, with both teams potentially cancelling each other out as a result.
Moreover, with so much at stake in terms of influencing the top-four race, neither manager will want to lose ground on each other in the table, so a share of the spoils seems the most likely outcome on Wednesday.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Brett Curtis
