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Preview: Freiburg vs. Augsburg - prediction, team news, lineups

sportsmole.co.uk, 24 September 2021, 19:57
Seeking to extend their unbeaten Bundesliga run to six matches, Freiburg will host Augsburg at the Dreisamstadion on Sunday afternoon.

The visitors, meanwhile, head to the south west of Germany having played out goalless draws in their opening two away matches.

Match preview

Freiburg are one of only three Bundesliga sides, along with joint-leaders Bayern Munich and Wolfsburg, who remain unbeaten after their opening five league matches this season.

The Breisgau-Brasilianer claimed their second successive draw last weekend, after playing out a goalless stalemate away against Mainz.

Prior to that, Christian Streich's men have also drawn against Armenia Bielefeld and FC Koln as well as securing impressive wins against Borussia Dortmund and Stuttgart.

Freiburg, who have finished inside the top ten in each of the last two seasons, currently sit sixth in the Bundesliga table, just four points off the summit.

A home encounter against Augsburg is next on the agenda for Streich's side, who have only lost one of their nine German top-flight home matches against them.

Seven of those games ended in victories, including last season's 2-0 win in March, so Freiburg will be confident of extending their unbeaten run this weekend.

After failing to win each of their first four league matches this season, Augsburg finally claimed their first three points when they surprisingly beat Borussia Monchengladbach 1-0 on home soil last weekend.

The game was goalless until the 80th minute when Ruben Vargas teed up substitute Florian Niederlechner, who placed his strike from inside the penalty area into the bottom right corner.

That result has seen Markus Weinzierl's side climb out of the relegation zone and up to 11th place, four points behind Sunday's opponents Freiburg.

Goals have been at a premium for Augsburg, who have scored the fewest goals in the Bundesliga this term, with Niederlechner's strike last weekend just their second goal so far.

Augsburg failed to find the net in their last trip to the Dreisamstadion, but prior to that they had scored in nine of their last 10 meetings against Freiburg.

The Fuggerstadter have won only one of their last 12 Bundesliga away games, but a victory on Sunday could see them move into the top half of the table.

Freiburg Bundesliga form:

Freiburg form (all competitions):

Augsburg Bundesliga form:

Augsburg form (all competitions):

Team News

Freiburg will still be without defenders Kimberly Ezekwem and Jonathan Schmid who are suffering with respective calf and muscle injuries.

Midfielder Maximilian Eggestein will be hoping he can force his way back into the starting lineup ahead of either Yannik Keitel or Janik Haberer.

An attacking front three of Roland Sallai, Lucas Holer and Kevin Schade are all expected to remain in the first XI, though the likes of Jeong Woo-yeong and Nils Petersen are also strong contenders to feature.

As for Augsburg, Felix Uduokhai (back), Jan Moravek (groin), Alfred Finnbogason (Achilles) and Michael Gregoritsch (muscle) are all ruled out with injuries.

After winning and keeping a clean sheet last weekend, Weinzierl may be tempted to name the same starting lineup, which would see centre-backs Robert Gumny, Jeffrey Gouweleeuw and Reece Oxford remain in the back three.

However, Niederlechner will be pushing to start ahead of Andi Zeqiri up front after scoring against Monchengladbach.

Freiburg possible starting lineup:

Flekken; Kubler, Lienhart, N. Schlotterbeck; Kubler, Keitel, Eggestein, Gunter; Sallai, Holer, Schade

Augsburg possible starting lineup:

Gikiewicz; Gumny, Gouweleeuw, Oxford; Framberger, Hahn, Dorsch, Caligiuri, Iago; Vargas, Niederlechner

We say: Freiburg 2-1 Augsburg

Eight of the last 10 meetings between Freiburg and Augsburg have seen both teams score, so goals are to be expected on Sunday afternoon.

A closely-fought contest is set to be played out at the Dreisamstadion, but we can see the hosts edging this clash and extending their unbeaten league record to six matches.

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