Sports Mole previews Saturday’s Bundesliga clash between Greuther Furth and Freiburg, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Champions League-chasing Freiburg will be looking to move into the top four when they travel to Sportpark Ronhof to face Greuther Furth in the Bundesliga on Saturday afternoon.
The hosts, meanwhile, will be hoping to avoid a 19th league defeat of the season as they bid to keep their slim hopes of top-flight survival alive.
Match preview
© Reuters
Greuther Furth are competing in just their second ever Bundesliga campaign; however, their hopes of survival are hanging by a thread, following their crushing 6-1 home defeat against RB Leipzig last weekend.
The Cloverleaves have now conceded 70 league goals this season, more than any other team in Europe’s top-five leagues, and they remain at the foot of the Bundesliga table, 11 points adrift of safety with eight games remaining.
Excluding last weekend’s result, Furth were unbeaten in six home matches and Stefan Leitl‘s side have certainly preferred playing in front of their home supporters this season, as they have accumulated 13 of their 14 points at Sportpark Ronhof.
Their chances of success on Saturday seem slim, however, as they have failed to win any of their last 13 meetings with Freiburg, including a 3-1 defeat in the reverse fixture in October.
© Reuters
Freiburg extended their unbeaten run across all competitions to six matches when they beat Wolfsburg 3-2 on home soil last weekend.
A brace from Vincenzo Grifo put the Breisgau-Brasilianer in front at the break, but they were pegged back with strikes from Max Kruse and Maximilian Arnold, the latter equalising in the 84th minute. However, an exceptional 20-yard half-volley from centre-back Nico Schlotterbeck just three minutes later sealed all three points for the hosts.
After Hoffenheim’s 1-1 draw with leaders Bayern Munich, Christian Streich‘s side have climbed up to fifth in the Bundesliga standings, level on points with RB Leipzig in fourth, who have a superior goal difference.
Freiburg will be confident of securing another three points on Saturday against basement club Furth, a side they have beaten in each of their last five meetings, scoring at least twice on four of those occasions.
Streich, who has been in charge of Freiburg since 2011, would break Volker Finke‘s record of 104 victories as the club’s head coach if his side secure all three points this weekend.
Greuther Furth Bundesliga form:
Freiburg Bundesliga form:
Freiburg form (all competitions):
Team News
© Reuters
Furth trio Robin Kehr, Marius Funk and Gideon Jung all remain sidelined with knee injuries, while Jeremy Dudziak is ruled out with an Achilles problem.
Afimico Pululu is also unavailable after testing positive for coronavirus, while Maximilian Bauer came off against Leipzig with a tooth injury and it remains to be seen whether the defender will be fit to feature this weekend.
Top scorer Branimir Hrgota, who has netted eight times this season, is set to lead the line up front alongside Jamie Leweling.
As for Freiburg, quartet Hugo Siquet, Maximilian Eggestein, Philipp Lienhart and Woo-Yeong Jeong, have all tested positive for COVID-19 and will miss Saturday’s game.
The visitors will also be without Yannik Keitel (broken toe), Lukas Kubler (muscle) and Kevin Schade (stomach) due to injury.
Streich may decide to switch from a 3-4-3 formation to a 4-2-3-1 setup this weekend, with centre-back Keven Schlotterbeck potentially dropping out for winger Roland Sallai, who could play with Grifo and Lucas Holer in behind lone striker Ermedin Demirovic.
Greuther Furth possible starting lineup:
Linde; Meyerhofer, Viergever, Griesbeck, Itter; Tillman, Christiansen, Seguin, Dudziak; Leweling, Hrgota
Freiburg possible starting lineup:
Flekken; Schmid, Gulde, N. Schlotterbeck, Gunter; Hofler, Harberer; Sallai, Holer, Grifo; Demirovic
We say: Greuther Furth 1-4 Freiburg
Greuther Furth are likely to pose a threat in the final third, having scored in eight of their last 11 league games; however, their defensive frailties could let them down once again against an in-form Freiburg outfit.
The visitors will be strong favourites to come away with all three points on Saturday and few would be surprised to see them win convincingly at Sportpark Ronhof.