Hoffenheim vs. SC Freiburg preview: New-look TSG face the Breisgau club
Freiburg travel to Hoffenheim who are hoping they’ve done enough in the summer window to avoid another scrap down at the bottom of the table.
Hoffenheim
Despite taking care of business against VfB Lübeck in the first round of the DFB-Pokal, it’s been a slow preseason for Hoffenheim who’ve won just one competitive game. However, they’ve been quite busy in the transfer market.
The losses of Christoph Baumgartner, Jacob Bruun Larsen, and Munas Dabbur hurt, but Florian Grillitsch has returned to the team. Wout Weghorst and Marius Bülter could also turn out to be excellent business.
After that disastrous season, Pellegrino Matarazzo will need to get his talented side off to a quick start or else his job could be in jeopardy.
This week, the trainer stated, "We have learned our lessons from last season, worked intensively for six weeks and have had a good pre-season. Now, we are looking to what is ahead. Moving forward, full speed ahead."
Team News
Bambase Conte, Dennis Geiger, and Umut Tohumcu are out, while Ozan Kabak is questionable. Kasim Adams and Fisnik Asllani have returned to training and will be available.
SC Freiburg
On the other hand, Freiburg had a quiet summer down in the Black Forest. Mark Flekken and Woo-yeong Jeong were the only two notable outgoings, while Florian Müller and Junior Adamu were brought in.
With the reliable Nicolas Höfler suspended, Merlin Röhl and Yannik Keitel are fighting for a starting spot next to Maximilian Eggestein. Christian Streich implemented an interesting lineup in their Pokal win, which saw Ritsu Doan and Roland Sallai basically playing as wing-backs.
In his press conference, Streich discussed new starting goalkeeper Noah Atubolu and said, "Noah is a quiet guy, he doesn't run excitedly through the dressing room. He's playing his first Bundesliga game. That's how we wanted it, that's good. Talent, his youth, the football school. He has quality and jumps in at the deep end. We're all happy. That's SC Freiburg."
Team News
New signing Adamu, Nicolas Höfler, and Daniel-Kofi Kyereh won’t be in the squad. Christian Günter is still making his way back from elbow surgery, but there’s a chance he could start from the off.