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

The visitors, meanwhile, will be looking to bounce back after losing 3-0 to Qarabag FK last time out in the competition.

Match preview

Freiburg continue to punch above their weight under the tutelage of Christian Streich, who has been in charge of the club since 2011, after finishing sixth and reaching the DFB-Pokal final for the first time in their history last season.

Breisgau-Brasilianer are embarking on their second Europa League group stage appearance under Streich, and have won both matches so far to sit three points clear at the top of Group G ahead of Thursday's visit of Nantes at Europa-Park Stadion.

After edging out Qarabag 2-1 on matchday one, the Germans were hugely impressive when beating Olympiacos 3-0 away from home last time out in the competition, with Michael Gregoritsch bagging himself a brace after Nicolas Hofler's early effort.

Gregoritsch was on the scoresheet once again on Saturday to help his side to a 2-1 win against Mainz 05, which moved Streich's side level on points with Union Berlin at the top of the Bundesliga.

As such, they can head into their midweek fixture with plenty of confidence of racking up yet another victory, with their progression to the knockout stages on the brink of being secured if they can do so.

Nantes, meanwhile, are competing in European football for the first time in more than 20 years as a result of winning the Coupe de France for only the fourth time in their history last season.

Antoine Kombouare, who spent the first seven years of his playing career with Nantes, cemented his legendary status at the club by beating Nice 1-0 at the Stade de France in May.

Having finished ninth last season, Les Canaris have found things much tougher so far this season, only picking up seven points from nine league games to sit in 16th position in Ligue 1's table.

Their 4-1 defeat to Monaco on Sunday extended their winless run in France to five matches, while their 3-0 defeat in Azerbaijan last time out in the Europa League has left them behind Qarabag on goal difference in Group G.

As such, Kombouare's side could definitely do with gaining a positive result in Freiburg on Thursday, although they would still have more than enough time to rectify the situation should they fall to a defeat to their in-form opponents.

Freiburg Europa League form:

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Freiburg form (all competitions):

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Nantes Europa League form:

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Nantes form (all competitions):

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Team News

Freiburg will remain without Lucas Holer, Roland Sallai, Kimberly Ezekwem and Hugo Siquet due to injury.

Streich is likely to hand the likes of Yannik Keitel, Lukas Kubler and Nils Petersen vital minutes from the start on Thursday, as he looks to shuffle the deck ahead of a trip to face Hertha Berlin in the Bundesliga on Sunday.

Nantes, meanwhile, are expected to travel without Fabio Da Silva and Fabien Centonze due to knee and hamstring issues respectively.

Ludovic Blas, who was Nantes' goalscoring hero in last season's Coupe de France final, should come into the starting XI having only been used from the substitutes' bench during the defeat to Monaco at the weekend.

Freiburg possible starting lineup:

Flekken; Kubler, Ginter, Lienhart, Gunter; Keitel, Hofler; Schade, Woo-Yeong, Grifo; Petersen

Nantes possible starting lineup:

Lafont; Appiah, Castelleto, Girotto, Pallois, Merlin; Guessand, Sissoko, Chirivella, Simon; Blas

We say: Freiburg 2-1 Nantes

Even if they do make a few changes to their starting XI, we expect Freiburg to get the job done on Thursday.

In stark contrast to their forthcoming opponents, Nantes have suffered a poor start to the season, even if we do expect them to keep things fairly tight during the match.

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