Freiburg vs. Wolfsburg preview: The Breisgau club are dreaming of Europe
Christian Streich. | Photo: Steven Schaap, CC BY-SA 4.0 |
Freiburg
Freiburg are at 7th in the table and look destined for a third straight season of European football. Still, results have been lackluster of late and there are barely any healthy defenders left to choose from.
Midfielder Yannik Keitel has moved back to pair alongside Manuel Gulde and they both should start again this weekend. Fans are hoping that winter signings Attila Szalai and Florent Muslija get playing time to close out the season with their remaining four games against clubs all in the bottom half of the table.
Christian Streich commented, “We are in a situation where a lot is at stake. A situation in which we need the total support of the crowd. The boys really want to win this and are giving it their all.”
Team News
Merlin Röhl is out, while Lukas Kübler is suspended. Philipp Lienhart, Matthias Ginter, Daniel-Kofi Kyereh and Kenneth Schmidt will remain unavailable. Roland Sallai and Noah Weißhaupt are expected to be squad options.
Wolfsburg
A narrow win over Bochum last week earned the green company club a four-point cushion over the relegation places. But, Wolfsburg still need a few more points to close out the season if they really want to confirm their spot in the first division for next season.
They’ve been all over the place since Ralph Hasenhüttl took over and are struggling to put away goals up front. Jonas Wind, Tiago Tomas and Ridle Baku are expected to be the front three against a depleted and extremely gettable Freiburg defense.
Hasenhüttl said, “I don't have the feeling that anyone in the team is sitting back because we won against Bochum. You can tell that the boys are stepping on the gas and the second team is also providing options. That makes the units and us better.”
Team News
It looks like Wolfsburg are fairly healthy heading into this weekend, as there’s even a chance Koen Casteels returns back in goal.