Preview: Freiburg vs. Werder Bremen - prediction, team news, lineups

The two teams are six places apart in the table, but just three points separate them, and a win for the visitors could see them leapfrog Freiburg.

Match preview

Freiburg were in DFB-Pokal action in midweek and were very fortunate to see off second-tier St. Pauli here.

A 2-1 win saw them need a 93rd-minute equaliser from Matthias Ginter before a 119th-minute winner from Michael Gregoritsch.

Christian Streich made his feelings known at half-time, as with his side trailing 1-0, he made four substitutes at once, with all four players who were brought on being regular starters.

Gregoritsch was the hero for Freiburg, and now he can turn his attention to facing his most favoured Bundesliga outfit in Werder, as he has scored more Bundesliga goals against them than any other club, with six.

After an under-par performance in midweek, they will need to get their act together to improve their Bundesliga form too, as a 5-0 thrashing away to Bayern Munich last week means they have won just one of their last five league matches, despite winning all four Europa League matches in that time.

While Freiburg were edging their way past second division opposition, Bremen went out of the cup instead, losing to an in-form Paderborn side on penalties.

Despite fighting back from 2-0 down to force the shootout, the man who spearheaded their comeback with a goal a minute after coming on and an assist, Leonardo Bittencourt, missed the decisive penalty as they lost 5-4.

That was their first defeat on the road this season as their away form has been Werder's saving grace in the league, with 11 of their 15 points coming in away matches.

That represents the best points per game ratio of any side in the Bundesliga away from home so far this season, and they will hope they can bounce back from an away defeat in midweek, as a win could take them into the top four.

Past meetings suggest that could be a real possibility too, as they have lost only twice in their last 13 visits to Freiburg, winning eight.

Freiburg Bundesliga form:

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Freiburg form (all competitions):

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Werder Bremen Bundesliga form:

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Werder Bremen form (all competitions):

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Team News

Daniel-Kofi Kyereh returned earlier than anticipated in midweek, coming on as a half-time substitute for Freiburg, but Roland Sallai is still out with a fractured eye socket.

Kimberly Ezekwem remains sidelined, but defensive reinforcements may be bolstered by comebacks for both Manuel Gulde and Jonathan Schmid in the near future.

Kiliann Sidillia is expected to replace Lukas Kubler, who played 120 minutes in the tie with St. Pauli at right-back, with the latter being used only in cup competitions so far this season.

The four half-time substitutes from Wednesday, Gregoritsch, Kyereh, Nicolas Hofler and Philipp Lienhart, will all expect to start after helping make the difference and turn the tie around in that win.

Marvin Ducksch will be absent for Werder here after missing the midweek cup fixture, which is a huge blow for the side as he has formed a formidable partnership with September's Bundesliga Player of the Month Niclas Fullkrug up front.

Marco Friedl also missed the cup tie due to a groin injury and that may keep the Austrian defender out until the World Cup, but they were able to welcome back Serbian Milos Veljkovic after a brief absence to replace him at centre-back.

Bittencourt returned from illness as a substitute in midweek and should start here after he had a huge impact on the game, despite his missed penalty.

Nicolai Rapp (hip) and Jean Manuel Mbom (Achilles) are still a few weeks away from making a return to the squad though.

Freiburg possible starting lineup:

Flekken; Sidillia, Ginter, Lienhart, Gunter; Hofler, Eggestein, Kyereh; Doan, Gregoritsch, Grifo

Werder Bremen possible starting lineup:

Pavlenka; Stark, Pieper, Veljkovic; Weiser, Gruev, Schmid, Bittencourt, Jung; Burke, Fullkrug

We say: Freiburg 1-2 Werder Bremen

Despite their defeat in midweek, Werder's away form paired with Freiburg's recent fall off in league results suggests we could see another win on the road for Ole Werner's side.

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