Freiburg and Borussia Dortmund are set to face off this coming Saturday at the Europa-Park Stadium. Currently, hosts Freiburg have won two of their three league games this season, while visitors Dortmund have won one and drawn two, both unbeaten.
Freiburg just suffered a 5-0 defeat at the hands of Stuttgart during the international break. Stuttgart took a 3-0 lead in the first 19 minutes of the game and then upped the ante against Freiburg as the game progressed, with Chris Völchlich and Sergiu Girassi scoring two goals apiece in the game.
However, Freiburg started the season quite well as they breezed past Oberachern in Germany and then beat Hoffenheim and Werder Bremen in consecutive league matches, but they were heavily beaten in their last match. However, only Bayern Munich and Leverkusen have more points than Freiburg in their first three games, so they are confident of getting back to winning ways soon.
It's worth noting that Freiburg have only lost two of their last 17 Bundesliga matches at the Europa-Park Stadium, meaning they had the fifth best home record in the league last season, while their defensive home record was the second best in the league.
Furthermore, Borussia Dortmund missed out on the Bundesliga title in agonizing fashion last season - they led for most of the campaign, but were eventually overtaken by Bayern Munich on the final day of the season. However, Dortmund failed to live up to expectations at the start of the season, narrowly beating Cologne 1-0 in their opening game before collecting draws against Bochum and newly-promoted Heidenheim, leaving them a quarter of a point behind.
Nonetheless, Dortmund are unbeaten in their last 11 Bundesliga matches, having lost just one of their first 22 league matches, so manager Edin Terzić and his players are still confident about starting their season early.
With Noah Atubolu (ankle), Christian Gunter (elbow), Lukas Holler (ankle), Yannick Keitel (femur) and Daniel Kofi Kire (knee) unavailable due to injuries, Freiburg coach Christian Streicher will be faced with a major personnel selection dilemma.
Looking at Saturday's starting lineup, Freiburg are in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Michael Gregorich likely to start as the lone striker while Roland Sali, Lucas Holler and Vincenzo Grifo will support the Austrian striker at the back.
Dortmund will also be without a number of key players this weekend due to the injury factor, including Julien Duranville (thigh), Niklas Fülk** (muscle), Gregor Kobel (hip), Thomas Mounir (thigh) and Mateu Morey-Bausa (knee).
There are still some doubts about the health of American creative midfielder Giovanni Reina and Algerian defender Rami Benzaini in the Dortmund squad, which gives Dortmund head coach Edin Terzić a lot to think about when choosing his starting lineup.
Dortmund's three frontline players are expected to be Donyell Mallon and Karim Adeyami, along with former West Ham United striker Sebastian Haller, while midfielders Marcel Sabitzer, Emre Zhan and Julian Brandt are expected to start the match in a 4-3-3 formation.
Expected Freiburg starting lineup: Atubolu; Sirtilla, Ginter, Lienhardt, Kubler; Egstein, Hoeffler; Sale, Holler, Grifo; Gregorich
Expected Dortmund starting lineup: Maier; Wolff, Suhler, Schlotterbeck, Benzeljani; Sabitzer, Zhan, Brandt; Mallon, Haller, Adeyami
OUR VIEW: Freiburg 2-2 Borussia Dortmund We expect Freiburg and Borussia Dortmund to play out a high scoring thriller, with both sides looking to get back on the winning track as soon as possible, with the most likely outcome of the game at the Europa-Park stadium being a draw.
