Freiburg vs. Schalke 04 preview: Die Königsblauen aiming to move out of the drop zone
Schalke 04 will be looking for a win that would move them out of the relegation zone when they face Freiburg on Sunday.
Freiburg
Freiburg are hoping to claim consecutive victories after claiming a 2-1 away win over Werder Bremen last weekend. Maximilian Phillip opened the scoring just after half time, but Freiburg managed to turn the game on its head. Roland Sallai found the equaliser in the 66th minute before Lucas Höler scored the winning goal to keep his side in the hunt for the Champions League places.
They will head into Sunday’s contest in fifth place with just one point separating them from the top four. With Union Berlin and RB Leipzig kicking off later in their respective games, Freiburg will have the chance to move up to third place if they can claim all three points.
Christian Streich’s side have proven to be a resolute force on home turf this season, conceding just 12 goals in their 14 league games at the Europa-Park Stadion - only Union Berlin have let in fewer home goals this term.
Freiburg are unbeaten in seven Bundesliga matches against Schalke, and they have won their last four meetings by a combined 12-0 scoreline.
Team News
Maximilian Eggestein and Roland Sallai are both suspended for the hosts, while Manuel Gulde and Daniel-Kofi Kyereh will miss out through injury. There are also doubts over the availability of Michael Gregoritsch due to an ankle issue.
Schalke 04
Schalke will enter Sunday’s game in a positive mood after they ended a four-game winless with a commanding 5-2 home victory over Hertha BSC last time out. A Marius Bülter brace, as well as goals from Tim Skarke, Simon Terodde and Marcin Kamiński ensured Schalke ran out comfortable winners over their relegation rivals.
Although they are currently languishing in the automatic relegation places, Schalke will move out of the bottom three on goal difference if they beat Freiburg on Sunday.
Having won just one of their 13 away league games this term, claiming all three points will be easier said than done. An inability to find the net has played a key role in Schalke’s struggles on the road, as they have only scored seven Bundesliga away goals this season - the lowest away tally in the top flight.
With five of those seven goals arriving in the final 15 minutes of Schalke’s away games, they will want to avoid leaving it late in Sunday’s contest.
Team News
Soichiro Kozuki and Skarke are both ruled out with ankle problems, while Eder Balanta, Cedric Brunner, Ralf Fährmann and Maya Yoshida remain sidelined. They are also unable to call upon long-term absentees Sebastian Polter and Justin Heekeren.
Tom Krauß, meanwhile, will serve a one-match suspension after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season last weekend.