Borussia Monchengladbach will be looking to increase the pressure on third-placed RB Leipzig when they face off against Freiburg in Friday's Bundesliga clash.
In contrast, Freiburg are still searching for their first win since the German top flight resumed following two draws and two losses in May.
Match preview
© Reuters
Freiburg have endured a tough set of fixtures since the Bundesliga kicked off again, and Christian Streich was forced to witness his side succumb to a Kai Havertz winner against Bayer Leverkusen last time out.
That result leaves Freiburg eighth in the table on 38 points, but a spot in European competition for the 2020-21 campaign is certainly not out of the question yet for Streich's men.
Nevertheless, Freiburg's results must improve if they are to mount a serious charge for a spot in the Europa League, with Streich's side having picked up only two wins from their last nine Bundesliga outings.
If recent matches are anything to go by, it appears that there will most definitely be a winner and a loser on Friday as Freiburg have not drawn on home soil since October.
Should Freiburg manage to pick up a vital three points at the Schwarzwald-Stadion, they will move to within one point of Hoffenheim and Wolfsburg before the weekend's fixtures.
© Reuters
Meanwhile, Monchengladbach recovered from a disappointing 0-0 draw with lowly Werder Bremen as they cruised to a 4-1 victory over Union Berlin last Sunday.
Alassane Plea and Marcus Thuram both hit the 10-goal mark for the season in that fixture, but it was the latter's symbolic gesture after his goal that served as a poignant reminder of the events currently unfolding off the pitch.
Monchengladbach's comfortable win last weekend saw them maintain their fourth-placed standing over Leverkusen on goal difference with 56 points to show from 29 matches, and Marco Rose's side can temporarily leapfrog Leipzig into third with three points on Friday.
Die Fohlen enjoyed a 4-2 victory when the sides last locked horns in December, but it was Freiburg who took the spoils with a 3-1 triumph in front of their own fans in last season's corresponding fixture.
Freiburg Bundesliga form: LWDLDL
Borussia Monchengladbach Bundesliga form: LWWLDW
Team News
© Reuters
Freiburg are sweating on the fitness of defender Robin Koch, who was forced off in the second half of last weekend's loss to Leverkusen.
Attacker Janik Haberer has also struggled with injuries recently and is a doubt for the weekend, but Gian-Luca Waldschmidt is in contention to feature having come off the bench last time out.
As far as Monchengladbach are concerned, Rose will again be without Denis Zakaria, Fabian Johnson and Tobias Strobl when they travel to Freiburg.
Veteran forward Raffael also picked up a recent ankle injury and is unlikely to feature, with Breel Embolo's absence all but guaranteeing that Thuram, Plea and Lars Stindl are set to start together once again.
Defender Tony Jantschke returns from a one-match suspension but will most likely start on the bench, although World Cup winner Christoph Kramer is in line to feature from the first whistle.
Freiburg possible starting lineup:
Schwolow; Gulde, Lienhart, Heintz; Schmid, Abrashi, Hofler, Gunter; Grifo, Petersen, Holer
Monchengladbach possible starting lineup:
Sommer; Lainer, Ginter, Elvedi, Bensebaini; Kramer, Neuhaus; Hofmann, Stindl, Thuram; Plea
We say: Freiburg 0-1 Borussia Monchengladbach
Both sides are in real contention to feature in European competition for the 2020-21 campaign, but given Monchengladbach's goalscoring exploits and Freiburg's poor form since the restart, we are expecting a narrow away win.
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Borussia Monchengladbach win with a probability of 53.58%. A win for Freiburg had a probability of 23.62% and a draw had a probability of 22.8%.
The most likely scoreline for a Borussia Monchengladbach win was 1-2 with a probability of 9.79%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (9.26%) and 0-2 (8.53%). The likeliest Freiburg win was 2-1 (6.11%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (10.63%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with a 5.8% likelihood.
