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

The visitors, meanwhile, would guarantee remaining in second position in the Bundesliga table with an away victory.

Match preview

After starting slowly under their new boss Niko Kovac during the early stages of the season, the season being paused for the recent World Cup in Qatar came at an unfortunate moment for Wolfsburg, who had shown great progress to win four straight league matches beforehand.

Indeed, the Wolves head into Saturday's clash against high-flying Freiburg on an unbeaten run of eight games in the Bundesliga, but only time will tell whether their momentum has been lost given that they have not played a competitive match for more than two months.

Only Augsburg, who drew 1-1 with Kovac's side at Venue WWK Arena, have prevented Wolfsburg from scoring two or more goals during their unbeaten run, suggesting those in attendance at the Volkswagen Arena this weekend should be in store for an entertaining game given Freiburg's attacking prowess, too.

Having finished in the bottom half of the table last season, Kovac will be keen to ensure his side's winning momentum continues into 2023, with returning to European competition and progressing deep into the DFB-Pokal likely to be the former Croatia international's main aims for the campaign.

Freiburg, of course, are embarking on a successful European journey of their own, having topped Group G in the Europa League to qualify for the competition's last-16 stage for the first time in their history.

With Christian Streich's reign at the club having entered its 13th calendar year, Breisgau-Brasilianer represent one of the most settled and upwardly mobile teams in world football, especially since their promotion from the second tier in 2016.

Their sixth-placed finish last season was the club's best effort since 2013, while they were desperately unlucky to miss out on lifting their first major honour when losing on penalties to RB Leipzig in the DFB-Pokal final, with a trip to SV Sandhausen in the last-16 of that competition awaiting them next month.

However, it is in the Bundesliga where Streich's main priority is likely to lie, with four wins from their last five matches prior to the break seeing them climb up to second in the table.

With only a three-point gap to fellow overachievers Union Berlin in fifth, the 57-year-old will be hoping to extend that with a positive result away to their similarly in-form opponents this weekend.

Wolfsburg Bundesliga form:

D

D

W

W

W

W

Wolfsburg form (all competitions):

D

W

W

W

W

D

Freiburg Bundesliga form:

L

W

W

W

L

W

Freiburg form (all competitions):

W

D

W

L

W

W

Team News

Wolfsburg are expected to remain without their key attacking talisman Lukas Nmecha, who missed out on representing Germany at the World Cup due to a knee injury, which he picked up during his side's 2-0 win against Borussia Dortmund in November.

Midfielders Bartol Franjic and Kevin Paredes are also both doubts due to calf injuries, but Patrick Wimmer should be able to shake off a recent illness to provide an option in attack.

Freiburg, meanwhile, could travel without Roland Sallai due to a muscular issue. The Hungary winger's season has been frustratingly stop-start after a serious eye injury caused him to miss several matches earlier in the season.

Jonathan Schmid, Yannik Keitel, Kimberly Ezekwem and Manuel Gulde may also miss out on their side's trip to Lower Saxony with injury concerns, but otherwise Streich appears to have a full squad to select from for his side's first match back.

Wolfsburg possible starting lineup:

Casteels; Baku, Bornauw, Van De Ven, Otavio; F. Nmecha, Arnold, Gerhardt; Kaminski, Wind, Marmoush

Freiburg possible starting lineup:

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

We say: Wolfsburg 2-2 Freiburg

Both sides were in supreme form prior to the World Cup and, although there may be concerns from their respective managers and sets of fans regarding a loss of rhythm, they should be able to pick up where they left off fairly quickly.

As such, it would be a surprise if this game does not provide several moments of brilliance for the neutrals, with both teams averaging more than one goal for and against throughout the season so far.

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