Freiburg and Eintracht Frankfurt will be hoping to return to winning ways in the Bundesliga when they face off at Europa-Park Stadion on Sunday afternoon.
The hosts are the first side below the European qualification places, currently on 28 points after 21 matches, while the visitors are four points and one spot ahead of their opponents in the league standings.
Match preview
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Freiburg have been in a bit of a rut since the league resumed last month and suffered a 3-0 defeat away to Borussia Dortmund last weekend, marking their third consecutive defeat in the top flight.
The Breisgau Brazilians allowed nine goals and scored only twice during their three consecutive losses following a narrow 3-2 triumph over Hoffenheim on January 20 and a 0-0 draw to Union Berlin in their first match of the New Year.
While Freiburg are holding on to seventh place and are still in the race for European qualification, they have now suffered nine defeats this term, which is the most of any side in the top half of the league standings.
However, Christian Streich's team put up a much better fight in midweek as they battled to secure an all-important draw in Northern France against a dangerous Lens side in their Europa League playoff, and the Freiburg manager will be hoping that result will serve as a catalyst for better performances to come.
Despite their recent dip in form, SCF still possess a solid home record, losing only twice in 10 matches at Europa-Park Stadion while recording five wins and three draws in the other eight matches this season.
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While the hosts will be determined to halt a fourth consecutive league loss on Sunday, it will not be an easy task as they played out a 0-0 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt in the reverse fixture and have not beaten them in their last three attempts dating back to April 2022.
Frankfurt were also involved in European competition in midweek and looked as though they were on their way to an easy victory after taking a two-goal lead over Union Saint-Gilloise inside the opening 10 minutes of the match, but the Belgian Pro League leaders mounted an excellent comeback, levelling the tie at 2-2 to deny their opponents a first leg lead.
That result followed a somewhat disappointing 1-1 draw to lower-table outfit Bochum last weekend when Dino Toppmoller's side struck early in the match but were again unable to protect their lead and dropped valuable points.
Since the start of December, the Eagles have taken just four points from five away games (W1 D1 L3) and conceded two or more goals in four of those matches, with their 1-0 win over RB Leipzig in mid-January being the only exception.
Team News
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Freiburg midfielder Merlin Rohl will not be eligible for selection in this match as he will serve the second of his three-match ban for the straight red he received against Stuttgart at the start of the month.
The hosts are also shorthanded on defence, with regular starters Matthias Ginter (Achilles) and Philipp Lienhart (groin) both set for extended periods on the sideline due to injury.
Kenneth Schmidt (abdomen), Max Rosenfelder (muscle) and Daniel-Kofi Kyereh (ACL) will also play no part in Sunday's encounter as they continue to recover from their respective injuries.
The visitors also have one enforced absentee for this match, with Robin Koch serving a one-match suspension due to an accumulation of yellow cards.
In terms of injuries, Hugo Larsson and Mehdi Loune are out until April, Eric Ebimbe is sidelined until the end of the month, and goalkeeper Kevin Trapp is flagged as a minor doubt due to a back injury.
Omar Marmoush has scored eight goals and provided three assists for Frankfurt this season and should continue to lead the line in this match alongside Sasa Kalajdzic.
Freiburg possible starting lineup:
Atubolu; Kuebler, Keitel, Gulde, Doan; Makengo, Eggestein, Hoefler, Szalai; Sallai; Hoeler
Eintracht Frankfurt possible starting lineup:
Trapp; Tuta, Smolcic, Pacho, Max; Buta, Skhiri, Gotze, Chaibi; Kalajdzic, Marmoush
We say: Freiburg 1-2 Eintracht Frankfurt
When these two meet, it generally means that we are in for a close match, but the hosts are missing a few key personnel, particularly in defence, which has shown in their last few matches. That may just give the visitors the edge here, and we feel they will make the most of it by claiming a narrow victory.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
