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Preview: Bayern Munich vs. Freiburg - prediction, team news, lineups

sportsmole.co.uk, 14 October 2022, 16:07
Bayern Munich will be aiming to leapfrog Freiburg into second place in the Bundesliga by beating them at the Allianz Arena at the weekend.

The visitors, meanwhile, could move top of the table depending on how league leaders Union Berlin fare against Borussia Dortmund earlier on 'Super Sunday'.

Match preview

Having scored nine goals with no response in two victories against Bayer Leverkusen and Viktoria Plzen heading into Der Klassiker at Westfalenstadion last weekend, Bayern appeared to be back on track again after Leon Goretzka's and Leroy Sane's strikes gave them a 2-0 lead in Dortmund.

However, BVB struck back through Youssoufa Moukoko and Anthony Modeste, with the latter's equaliser coming in the fifth minute of injury-time after substitute Kingsley Coman had been given his marching orders for a second bookable offence.

As such, Julian Nagelsmann's side missed the opportunity to put some distance between themselves and arguably their main title rivals, with Union Berlin extending their lead at the top of the table to four points over both teams.

Freiburg are currently sandwiched two points in between them, meaning Bayern can move second should they return to winning ways on Sunday, which would extend their unbeaten run against Christian Streich's side to 13 matches.

Having wrapped up their qualification to the Champions League knockout stages for the 15th successive season with a 4-2 win against Plzen in midweek, Nagelsmann will have every faith that his team possess more than enough firepower to seriously hurt their forthcoming opponents.

However, Freiburg are not an outfit to be underestimated under Streich's tutelage, having gained confidence from reaching their first ever DFB-Pokal final last season alongside finishing inside the top six of the Bundesliga for the first time in nine years.

Although Streich, who has been in charge of the club since 2011, may have been disappointed to see his side lose ground on league leaders Union Berlin after drawing 2-2 away to Hertha Berlin last weekend, reaching the knockout stages of European competition for the first time in his tenure on Thursday night would have made up for it.

Breisgau-Brasilianer, as the club is fondly known by its fanbase, were scintillating in beating Nantes 4-0 away from home in the Europa League, with Lukas Kubler, Michael Gregoritsch and Jeong Woo-yeong all on the scoresheet during the rout.

With his side only requiring one point from their final two games to top Group G and advance to the last-16 in the process, their long-serving manager can almost solely focus on domestic matters between now and the World Cup starting next month.

While the 57-year-old will be keen to keep his players' feet on the ground, they will have no fear when arriving in Munich to take on the reigning champions at the weekend, with any positive result set to be used as more proof of their progress given their relatively poor record against the Bavarians in recent years.

Bayern Munich Bundesliga form:

D

D

D

L

W

D

Bayern Munich form (all competitions):

W

L

W

W

D

W

Freiburg Bundesliga form:

W

W

D

D

W

D

Freiburg form (all competitions):

W

D

W

W

D

W

Team News

Bayern will be without Coman for one match due to suspension, while Lucas Hernandez (groin) and Bouna Sarr (knee) are definitely still sidelined through injury.

Alphonso Davies, Serge Gnabry, Manuel Neuer, Matthijs de Ligt and Jamal Musiala were all unavailable for the trip to Czech Republic in midweek, and it remains to be seen how many of the quintet will recover in time to face Freiburg on Sunday.

Davies and Gnabry reportedly got through Thursday's training session with no issues, but the other three appear to more touch and go, meaning Benjamin Pavard may have to deputise in central defence once again, with Sven Ulrich starting between the posts.

Freiburg, meanwhile, will travel without Kimberly Ezekwem due to a muscle strain, while Manuel Gulde, Roland Sallai and Daniel-Kofi Kyereh are all injury doubts.

As such, Streich may opt to utilise three central midfielders in order to compress the space against their more talented opponents, with Yannick Keitel, Maximilian Eggestein and Nicolas Hofler potentially making up the visitors' engine room.

Bayern Munich possible starting lineup:

Ulrich; Mazraoui, Pavard, Upamecano, Davies; Kimmich, Goretzka; Sane, Muller, Gnabry; Mane

Freiburg possible starting lineup:

Flekken; Sildillia, Ginter, Lienhart, Gunter; Eggestein, Hofler, Keitel; Doan, Gregoritsch, Grifo

We say: Bayern Munich 3-1 Freiburg

While Bayern's potential injury issues give Freiburg an even greater chance of claiming a result, we expect the Bavarians to leapfrog their opponents in the table by claiming an important victory.

Streich's side have had a relatively kind fixture list so far and may find themselves outclassed by their opponents at times, especially after Nagelsmann's side were able to take their foot off the gas away to Plzen on Wednesday evening.

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