9th placed Freiburg will play host to a Borussia Dortmund outfit who’ll be desperate to hold onto their top six spot when the two teams meet at the Schwarzwald-Stadion in Saturday afternoon’s instalment in the Bundesliga.
Following an impressive five-match winning streak that spanned mid-December through to early January, Freiburg’s hopes of a possible top six finish in the German top flight appeared to be justified after racking up wins against Arminia Bielefeld, Schalke, Hertha Berlin, Hoffenheim and Koln.
However, Freiburg have managed to record just one further win from their subsequent four matches overall which came in the shape of a 2-1 home win over Stuttgart, while defeats to Bayern Munich and Wolfsburg (both away from home), have resulted in Saturday’s hosts losing valuable ground on the top six pack.
Freiburg now find themselves five points adrift of their 6th placed visitors, Dortmund, and they’ll have their work cut out here if they’re to extend their unbeaten run at home to seven matches, but goals have figured prominently as eight of Freiburg’s 10 home matches have seen both teams score.
Borussia Dortmund jumped up into 6th place on the Bundesliga ladder following last weekend’s convincing 3-1 home win over Augsburg which ended a worrying three-match sequence without a win in the German top flight.
Recent defeats against Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Moenchengladbach, both away from home in 2-1 and 4-2 losses along with just a point in a draw with Mainz had threatened to de-rail Dortmund’s challenge for a top six spot, but the win over Augsburg should give Dortmund renewed confidence.
However, despite a good start to the campaign away from home which saw the visitors collect four wins out of their opening six matches on their travels, Dortmund have since struggled to replicate their early season form on the road.
The visitors have slumped to three defeats out of their last four matches away from their Signal-Iduna-Park, having lost at Union Berlin, Bayer Leverkusen and M’gladbach, so the propsects of an away win here seem far from guaranteed; instead, the goals market appeals again where Dortmund are concerned as seven of their 10 away matches have also seen both teams score.
Freiburg have been solid at home of late while Dortmund have been blowing hot and cold, but both look capable of scoring in this clash.