Frankfurt vs. SC Freiburg preview: Can the Breisgau club bounce back?
Freiburg close out a hectic week in Frankfurt, who are trying to get over a case of the draws in league play.
Frankfurt
Eintracht took care of business against Aberdeen in the Europa Conference League this week and luckily get to play at home again for Sunday’s contest. While they haven't suffered a loss in league play, Frankfurt have struggled to score goals as of late.
The absence of Randal Kolo Muani hurts, as Omar Marmoush looks to be Dino Toppmöller’s favorite thus far up front. Junior Dina Ebimbe is playing in a far more advanced role and he should be joined by Jessic Ngankam or Paxten Aaronson against Freiburg with Mario Götze’s status in question.
In his presser, Toppmöller mentioned, “We’ll need freshness against Freiburg and players who can perform at maximum intensity for 90 minutes. They're tough, hard-working, strong opponents. It’s going to be a big test.”
Team News
Sebastian Rode, Kristijan Jakic, and Lucas Alario won’t be available, while Götze is questionable with a knock.
Freiburg
Following losses in league play to Stuttgart and Dortmund, Freiburg got back to winning ways against Olympiacos to kick off their Europa League campaign.
But, the big news this week is that bad luck has unfortunately struck again for beloved captain Christian Günter. After receiving his second elbow surgery of the season, he now has an infection which will significantly postpone the recovery process.
On Matchday 5, veteran Nicolas Höfler is suspended, meaning Yannik Keitel or Merlin Röhl will likely start alongside Maximilian Eggestein. This is Freiburg’s second away game in just four days and rotations are expected with Christian Streich still tinkering with their defensive structure.
Matthias Ginter commented, “The atmosphere in Frankfurt will be similarly fiery as in Athens. - It’s not easy to play all three days and then have two away games in a row. But we now want to win in the league again.”
Team News
Höfler will serve the first of his three-game suspension this weekend. Günter and Daniel-Kofi Kyereh won’t play, while it’s likely that Michael Gregoritsch won’t be fit enough to feature.