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

Gladbach, meanwhile, returned to winning ways with a crucial 2-1 victory against Heidenheim last weekend.

Match preview

Freiburg would not have expected to return from their trip to Bayer Leverkusen with anything given the exceptional form their league leading opponents have been in of late, with Christian Streich's side falling to a 2-1 defeat last Sunday.

Florian Wirtz and former Gladbach star Jonas Hofmann scored either side of half-time to provide their side with a commanding foothold in the match, but Manuel Gulde's late effort sparked hopes of a comeback, which was ultimately to no avail.

More damagingly, Freiburg were defeated 3-1 at home by second tier side SCPaderborn in the DFB-Pokal on Wednesday, with the visitors racing into a 3-0 lead prior to the hour mark. Maximilian Eggestein sparked hopes of avoiding an embarrassing defeat by pulling one back with more than 20 minutes remaining, but their hopes of replicating or bettering their runners-up medal from 18 months ago were dashed.

As such, Streich and his players will be determined to start putting more points on the board in the Bundesliga, as they look to secure European qualification for the third successive season. While the latter appears to be a tall order based on current form, they will be confident of performing the former against an equally inconsistent Gladbach side.

Indeed, Gladbach have seen their standards fall in recent times with consecutive 10th-placed finishes, having ended in the Bundesliga's top half of the table in each of the previous 10 campaigns.

Despite replacing Daniel Farke with Gerardo Seoane as their manager during the summer, Die Fohlen find themselves in the bottom half once again after nine matches, but they secured their second victory of the season by defeating newly promoted Heidenheim last weekend.

Alassane Plea and Eren Dinkci had exchanged strikes during the first half, before Jonas Fohrenbach's own goal proved to be decisive in terms of handing the hosts all three points. Gladbach followed up this victory by beating Heidenheim once again at Borussia Park on Tuesday, with Seoane's side running out 3-1 winners in the DFB-Pokal.

Having sold Marcus Thuram, Ramy Bensebaini and Hofmann during the summer transfer window, Gladbach were not exactly expected to return to their recent glories this season, but Seoane will be hoping to put together a winning run at some point during the campaign.

Freiburg Bundesliga form:

L

D

W

L

W

L

Freiburg form (all competitions):

W

L

L

W

W

L

Borussia Monchengladbach Bundesliga form:

D

L

W

D

L

W

Advert - content below:

Team News

Freiburg will remain without Roland Sallai, Maximilian Philipp, Yannik Keitel, Max Rosenfelder, Christian Gunter and Daniel-Kofi Kyereh due to injury, while Philipp Lienhart is a doubt after being replaced against Leverkusen due to a knock.

Gulde scored after coming on as his replacement and would expect to start should Lienhart fail to prove his fitness in time, while Junior Adamu and Michael Gregoritsch will both be itching for opportunities to impress in attack.

Gladbach, meanwhile, have a host of injury issues at present, with Jordan Siebatcheu, Marvin Friedrich, Ko Itakura, Tobias Sippel, Hannes Wolf, Yvandro Borges Sanches, Tony Jantschke, Jonas Omlin and Stefan Lainer all expected to miss out on the trip to Freiburg.

Manu Kone is still suspended for another match after his red card during his side's defeat to FC Koln, meaning Christoph Kramer or Florian Neuhaus could be called upon in the visitors' engine room.

Freiburg possible starting lineup:

Atubolu; Sildillia, Ginter, Gulde, Kubler; Eggestein, Hofler; Doan, Holer, Grifo; Gregoritsch

Borussia Monchengladbach possible starting lineup:

Nicolas; Scally, Elvedi, Wober, Netz; Kramer, Weigl; Honorat, Neuhaus, Ngoumou; Plea

We say: Freiburg 1-1 Borussia Monchengladbach

Freiburg have struggled to score goals this season, meaning they will likely attempt to keep things tight at the back once again, but we expect Gladbach to travel with some confidence after securing back-to-back wins against Heidenheim.

As such, we can envisage a low scoring draw between two sides who are difficult to split in terms of quality, especially with both managers having plenty of injury headaches at present.

Previews by email