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

The visitors, meanwhile, moved into sixth place by beating Hoffenheim last time out.

Match preview

Having performed above expectations all season long to fight on three fronts, Freiburg's season is in danger of ending with a whimper after suffering three consecutive losses in all competitions in recent weeks.

After losing last season's DFB-Pokal final to RB Leipzig on penalties, Christian Streich's side were no match for Die Roten Bullen this time around at the semi-final stage, with Leipzig running out 5-1 winners to book their place in the final once again.

For the second time in the space of five days, Marco Rose's side proved victorious at Europa-Park Stadion courtesy of Kevin Kampl's second-half strike, before Freiburg lost another crucial top four battle against Union Berlin last weekend.

Die Eisernen raced into a 3-0 lead at half time before Freiburg threatened a sensational comeback with Manuel Gulde and Vincenzo Grifo pulling two goals back after the break, but Aissa Laidouni's effort 10 minutes from time moved Union Berlin three points clear of their opponents within the Champions League qualification positions.

Realistically, due to Freiburg's considerably inferior goal difference, victories for Leipzig and Union Berlin this weekend would end Breisgau-Brasilianer's hopes of competing in Europe's elite competition next season, but all they can do is focus on themselves and ensure that they keep those teams honest by beating Wolfsburg on Friday.

The Wolves are set to prove difficult opposition, though, having put themselves in the driving seat in terms of finishing sixth and guaranteeing some form of European football next season.

Whether sixth will prove enough to qualify for the Europa League or only the Europa Conference League next season will depend on whether Eintracht Frankfurt defeat Leipzig in next month's DFB-Pokal final, but Wolfsburg will gleefully take which ever competition is on offer having only finished 12th in the Bundesliga last time out.

Indeed, Niko Kovac has exceeded expectations in his first campaign at the club after taking over as manager last summer, overcoming a difficult initial period to establish Wolfsburg as one of the most consistent outfits in the entire division.

Strikes from Jakub Kaminski and Luca Waldschmidt provided their side with all three points against Hoffenheim last weekend, helping them leapfrog Bayer Leverkusen into sixth spot on goal difference, which could end up separating the two sides at the end of the campaign.

With a home match against a potentially already-relegated Hertha Berlin side to close out the season, Kovac will be acutely aware that victory against Freiburg on Friday could prove to be the decisive factor in terms of taking them across the finish line in the position they want to be in.

Freiburg Bundesliga form:

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Freiburg form (all competitions):

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Wolfsburg Bundesliga form:

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Team News

Freiburg appear to have lost Lukas Kubler for the rest of the campaign after the right-back suffered a muscle injury against Union Berlin, but Philipp Lienhart should return from illness to slot back into the heart of the hosts' defence.

Daniel-Kofi Kyereh remains sidelined for the foreseeable future due to an ACL injury, with Streich likely to restore Michael Gregoritsch and Roland Sallai to his attack after utilising them both from the bench last time out.

Wolfsburg, meanwhile, will travel without Maxence Lacroix (shoulder), Paulo Otavio (ankle) and Lukas Nmecha (tendon) due to existing injuries.

Kovac may be tempted to throw Waldschmidt in from the start after his goalscoring impact from the bench against Hoffenheim, but the former Croatia international is unlikely to make any changes to a winning team.

Freiburg possible starting lineup:

Flekken; Sildillia, Ginter, Lienhart, Gunter; Hofler, Eggestein; Sallai, Holer, Grifo; Gregoritsch

Wolfsburg possible starting lineup:

Casteels; Bornauw, Guilavogui, Van De Ven; Baku, Arnold, Svanberg, F Nmecha, Kaminski; Wimmer, Wind

We say: Freiburg 1-1 Wolfsburg

Freiburg have suffered a hugely disappointing couple of weeks, losing both of their crucial top-four battles as well as being dumped out of the DFB-Pokal, and it will be difficult for them to put aside any lingering negative energy on Friday.

As such, we can envisage Wolfsburg gaining a positive result from this meeting, although it may not be the victory that they require to remain in pole position to claim sixth place.

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