Preview: Freiburg vs. Borussia Monchengladbach - prediction, team news, lineups

Gladbach, meanwhile, will be looking to bounce back after suffering their first defeat under Daniel Farke last time out.

Match preview

Freiburg's impressive 3-2 win away to Bayer Leverkusen made it three wins in a row for Christian Streich's side, incredibly moving them to the top of the Bundesliga in the process.

The visitors trailed at half-time to Kerem Demirbay's 16th-minute strike, but goals from Matthias Ginter, Michael Gregoritsch and Ritsu Doan after the break secured a vital victory for their side despite Patrik Schick having equalised in a topsy-turvy encounter.

Having finished sixth before losing in the DFB-Pokal final last season, Freiburg are also competing in the Europa League this season, and began their first European campaign for five seasons with a solid 2-1 win against Qarabag FK on Thursday.

These are heady heights for Streich - who has been in charge of the club since 2011 - and his players, who will hope to stay top of the table by beating Gladbach at Europa-Park Stadion on Sunday.

Despite impressively holding Bayern Munich to a 1-1 draw at the Allianz Arena in their previous match, with Yann Sommer providing a remarkable performance having made 19 saves to deny the Bavarians a win, Gladbach disappointingly lost 1-0 at home to Mainz 05 last weekend.

The in-form Marcus Thuram was denied on several occasions in a rare display of profligacy in front of goal, before Ko Itakura's 53rd-minute dismissal for a professional foul left the hosts in troubled waters.

Their predicament went from bad to worse when Aaron Caricol guided a delightful strike into the top corner from the ensuing free-kick, with even Sommer helpless to prevent his side from going one-nil down as Farke succumbed to his first loss since taking over in the summer.

The defeat saw them fall to ninth in the table, which does not seem representative of the improvements they have demonstrably made in Farke's early days in charge in Monchengladbach.

The former Norwich City boss will hope his players can quickly put their disappointment behind them, and use their week off as an advantage against a team who may be in the middle of an excellent run of results, but should be more fatigued having played on Thursday night.

Freiburg Bundesliga form:

Freiburg form (all competitions):

Borussia Monchengladbach Bundesliga form:

Borussia Monchengladbach form (all competitions):

Team News

Having scored in each of his last two appearances, Doan should start here, especially with Roland Sallai sidelined after suffering a nasty eye injury against Leverkusen last weekend.

Doan was one of three changes for the midweek clash against Qarabag as Streich switched to a back four in the absence of the injured Manuel Gulde, with Gregoritsch almost certainly set to return to the starting XI having made an excellent start to his Freiburg career.

Lukas Kubler is available again having returned from injury but may find Kiliann Sildillia difficult to displace at right-back, while Lucas Holer, Kimberly Ezekwem and Kevin Schade join Gulde and Sallai on the sidelines.

Gladbach, meanwhile, should replace the suspended Itakura with Marvin Friedrich at centre-back, while Nico Elvedi is also out with an ankle injury to make matters even worse for the visitors.

Farke could move Ramy Bensebaini alongside Freidrich at the heart of the defence, with Luca Netz coming in at left-back.

Alassane Plea was withdrawn during the defeat against Mainz due to a groin injury and is expected to miss out here, with club captain Lars Stindl set for his first league start under Farke having suffered a muscle injury himself earlier in the campaign.

Freiburg possible starting lineup:

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

Borussia Monchengladbach possible starting lineup:

Sommer; Scally, Friedrich, Bensebaini, Netz; Kone, Kramer, Neuhaus; Hofmann, Thuram, Stindl

We say: Freiburg 2-1 Borussia Monchengladbach

Despite having had more rest than their opponents, who played in Europe on Thursday, Gladbach's defensive injuries could end up costing them on Sunday.

Freiburg are brilliant from set-pieces and could expose the amount of changes Farke is expected to be forced into making to his backline.

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