Trabzonspor vs. SC Freiburg preview: Team news and predicted lineups
| Daniela Porcelli/Getty Images |
Bundesliga's third-placed side Freiburg face a tricky trip to the in-form Trabzonspor on Thursday evening in the UEFA Europa Conference League. Julian Schuster's side ended a three-game losing streak with late wins against Wolfsburg and Augsburg in the cup and Bundesliga, respectively.
Meanwhile, German coach Thomas Reis started his reign at Trabzonspor with seven straight victories. The former Bochum and Schalke coach quickly found the right formula at the club who made arguably the biggest signing in Turkish football history with the arrival of Mohamed Salah.
The hosts are one of the eight teams to win both of their opening fixtures in the competition with Guinea-Bissau striker Franculino finding the net three times against KuPS and Hearts. Freiburg started their league phase campaign with a narrow win over Jablonec before Paris Brunner’s Monaco beat them 3-0 on matchday 2.
Team News
Franculino is among the long list of players currently out with injuries, while Cape Verde international Sidny Lopes Cabral is suspended for his red card against Hearts.
Apart from Germany international Philipp Treu, Freiburg have no injury concerns, but Schuster is known to make several changes to his lineups to deal with the busy calendar.
Cyriaque Irie and Keisuke Goto will target starting roles after their recent performances off the bench, while Vincenzo Grifo could also replace Derry Scherhant. Igor Matanović scored in back-to-back games after failing to get on the scoresheet in his previous nine appearances.
Predicted Lineups
Trabzonspor: Onana; Pina, Nwaiwu, Ozkacar, Eskihellac; Fabinho, Kabasakal; Salah ©, Muci, Saviolo; Onuachu
Freiburg: Backhaus; Kübler, Ginter, Rosenfelder, Makengo; Eggestein, Engelhardt; Beste, Suzuki, Grifo ©; Matanovic
