Borussia Dortmund vs Freiburg Preview: Team News & Prediction
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Borussia Dortmund have underwhelmed and underperformed since the start of the Nuri Sahin reign over the summer as they now prepare to welcome a Freiburg side punching above their weight to the Westfalenstadion this weekend.
Kick-off date/time: Saturday 23rd November, 2024: UK – 2:30pm / US ET – 9:30am / US PT – 6:30am
How to watch on TV: UK – Not televised / US – Some matches will be televised on ESPN channels so it is worth checking their schedules
How to watch online: UK – Cannot be streamed / US – ESPN+
Borussia Dortmund Preview: Struggling Dortmund
Borussia Dortmund decided to part company with Edin Terzic over the summer due to poor performances and results in the Bundesliga but they did reach the final of the UEFA Champions League. His replacement, former Liverpool and Real Madrid midfielder Nuri Sahin, have regressed even further domestically.
Dortmund begin this weekend’s round of fixtures sitting outside of the top six and the automatic UEFA competition qualification spots after just five victories in their opening ten matches. Their most recent outing saw Emre Can fairly embarrassingly sent off as they capitulated to a 3-1 loss to Mainz a couple of weeks ago.
Freiburg Preview: Overachieving again
After the departure of Christian Streich over the summer, who had been in charge of the club since 2011 after previously being the U19 coach and assistant since 1995, Freiburg have started a new era with Julian Schuster, a former Freiburg player, at the helm, and they have once again begun to overperform and punch above their weight.
The ‘Breisgau Brazilians’, as they are nicknamed, begin this weekend’s round of fixtures sitting fifth in the Bundesliga after a strong start to the campaign. They went into the international break on the back of back-to-back goalless draws against Mainz 05 and Union Berlin to mean they have suffered just one defeat in their last six matches across all competitions.
Borussia Dortmund Team News: Key absentees
Experienced Germany international centre-back Niklas Sule is missing with an ankle injury for this one alongside a few other key absentees for this weekend.
As well as the absence of former Bayern Munich defender Sule, Emre Can is missing through suspension whilst key attacker Karim Adeyemi is dealing with a hamstring injury.
Predicted XI (4-1-4-1): Meyer; Gross, Mane, Schlotterbeck, Ryerson; Nmecha; Beier, Sabitzer, Brandt, Bynoe-Gittens; Guirassy
Unavailable: Sule (Injured), Watjen (Injured), Can (Suspended), Adeyemi (Injured)
Questionable:
Freiburg Team News: Freiburg’s issues
Freiburg are dealing with a few injury issues ahead of this weekend’s trip to Dortmund with key players such as Eren Dinkci and Daniel-Kofi Kyereh unavailable.
The visitors will also have to make a change in goal as number one ‘keeper Noel Atubolu is unavailable so Florian Muller is expected to start for this one.
Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Muller; Kubler, Ginter, Lienhart, Gunter; Eggestein, Osterhage; Doan, Weisshaupt, Grifo; Adamu
Unavailable: Rohl (Injured), Kyereh (Injured), Dinkci (Injured), Atubolu (Injured)
Questionable:
Borussia Dortmund vs Freiburg Prediction
This one, on paper, would appear to be a one-sided affair. Borussia Dortmund have significantly underperformed throughout this campaign as they now prepare to take on an impressive side. Dortmund have a battle to even finish in the top four and the UEFA Champions League spots. They take on a Freiburg side, though, that are once again overperforming and have proven themselves to be very difficult to beat.
Borussia Dortmund vs Freiburg Tip: Double chance – Freiburg to win or draw