Borussia Dortmund-Freiburg is a Bundesliga match of the nineteenth day and is played on Saturday at 15:30: formations, predictions, TV and streaming.
Not as much of a joy to watch as this Borussia Dortmund side has been in the past. And last Sunday’s 2-0 win at home to Bayer Leverkusen proved that perfectly. Despite a dominating performance from Xabi Alonso’s Aspirins, it was the Gialloneri who came out on top in the end, claiming their third win in a row since the season resumed.
Edin Terzic’s men took a step forward in terms of concreteness and cynicism: although they did not put on a show, they still managed to win games. In the previous two matches it had been like that against Augsburg (4-3) and Mainz (1-2), narrow victories at the end of prolific but drawn-out matches, far from being dominated. After closing with two worrying consecutive defeats before the break, Borussia Dortmund are now back in the top four and, thanks to Bayern Munich’s slowdown ahead of them, are again -3 off the top of the table. Behind the Bavarians it is a total tussle: they are still the favourites, but the games are not as closed as they appeared last autumn. Union Berlin, Leipzig, Freiburg and Borussia Dortmund are all within two points, and further down there is also Eintracht Frankfurt, another team that is back on track.
Jallooners often indigestible for Freiburg
Terzic can count on Bellingham in a state of grace – now also captain due to the prolonged absence of Reus, now ready to return – and on Ivorian striker Haller, who started for the first time in Leverkusen after undergoing surgery for a tumour.
Streich
It will be interesting to see if the yellow-and-whites can also come out on top against Freiburg, who currently have the same points as them (34) and are in effect a direct competitor. Grifo and his team-mates started with the handbrake on, even suffering a shock defeat against Wolfsburg (6-0), but after drawing with Eintracht (1-1) they got back on track by beating Augsburg 3-1. Christian Streich’s side will face one of their dark beasts, with whom they have not won since 2001.
The Prediction
The first leg ended 3-1 to the Yellow and Black and that remains the only home defeat for Freiburg. They struggle more on the road: their last success came in October against bottom-of-the-table Schalke 04. That is why Borussia Dortmund’s victory, although not a foregone conclusion, seems the most viable option. Likely to be at least three goals overall.
Borussia Dortmund v Freiburg likely line-up
- BORUSSIA DORTMUND (4-2-3-1): Kobel; Ryerson, Süle, Schlotterbeck, Guerreiro; Emre Can, Bellingham; Brandt, Reus, Adeyemi; Moukoko.
- FRIBURG (3-4-3): Flekken; Kübler, Ginter, Lienhart; Sildillia, Eggestein, Höfler, Günter; Doan, Gregoritsch, Grifo.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 3-2
