Hertha BSC vs. SC Freiburg DFB-Pokal preview: Team news and predicted lineups

Hertha Berlin will be hoping to reach the last four of the 2025-26 DFB-Pokal if they manage to overcome Bundesliga opponents SC Freiburg at the Olympiastadion at 20:45 CET tomorrow.

The club from the German capital will be eager to go one step further than fellow 2. Bundesliga side Holstein Kiel who succumbed to defeat in their quarter-final tie with VfB Stuttgart last week.

Despite a plethora of draws, Stefan Leitl's men are unbeaten since early December and come into this cup tie in good form. A 3-0 thrashing of SV Elversberg on Saturday will give them further confidence. 

On the other side of this fixture, SC Freiburg have the momentum of a 1-0 win over Werder Bremen. Jan-Niklas Beste's goal in the 13th-minute proved to be enough even with Johan Manzambi's red card. 

Although consistency has been key to Julian Schuster's side claiming seventh place in the Bundesliga table and progression in the Uefa Europa League, they've only managed to win 6 of their 18 away games. 

As for Hertha, the incentive is clear. A win would bring them closer to contesting a cup final in their own backyard. It would also set up their first semi-final since 2016 where they lost to Borussia Dortmund.

Team news:

Hertha BSC: Veteran midfielder Diego Demme (head injury), Kennet Eichhorn (ankle) and Maurice Krattenmacher (hamstring) are all expected to be unavailable for the hosts.

SC Freiburg: Daniel Kofi-Kyereh (fitness) is still behind on match sharpness. Philipp Lienhart (abdominal injury) and Lukas Kübler (knee) ought to miss out for the Breisgauers. Manzambi's red card won't carry a suspension into the cup.

Predicted lineups:

Hertha BSC (4-2-3-1): Ernst - Eitschberger, Leistner, Gechter, Karbownik - Seguin, Klemens - Winkler, Cuisance, Reese - Schüler

SC Freiburg (4-2-3-1): Müller - Ogbus, Ginter, Rosenfelder, Makengo - Eggestein, Manzambi - Beste, Suzuki, Scherhant - Höler