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SC Freiburg vs Bayern Munich: Preview, team news, how to watch and prediction

Bayern Munich will face off against SC Freiburg at Europa-Park Stadion in a crucial Bundesliga encounter on Friday night.

Bayern Munich will face off against SC Freiburg at Europa-Park Stadion in a crucial Bundesliga encounter on Friday night.

Following three consecutive defeats in all competitions, the Bavarian club returned to winning ways by beating RB Leipzig last weekend thanks to Harry Kane’s stoppage-time strike.

So, following that result, Bayern Munich stay second in the table with 53 points from 23 games, sitting eight points behind the league leader Bayer Leverkusen.

Xavi Alonso’s side have been in impressive form this term and are unbeaten in all competitions. So, it doesn’t look likely Leverkusen will drop many points between now and the end of this season. Therefore, Thomas Tuchel’s side will have to win against Freiburg to keep their hope of winning yet another Bundesliga title alive.

Freiburg are currently ninth in the table with 29 points from 23 games. The hosts have been winless in their last five Bundesliga games, losing four of those. So, they will be low in confidence ahead of this encounter.

Freiburg have struggled with their leaky-defence this season as they have conceded 42 goals in 23 league appearances. If they can’t display a solid defensive display on Friday then they are highly likely to end up losing this fixture.

Previous meetings

Bayern Munich have been dominant against Freiburg as they haven’t lost versus their Friday’s opponent since 2015. So, the visitors will be looking to continue their excellent record in this fixture as well.

How to watch

The game will kick off at 7:30pm UK time and the match will be televised live on Sky Sports in the UK.

For those fans based in Germany, you can buy Bayern Munich tickets through the official club channels or via trusted online resellers.

Team news

Freiburg have a few injury problems at the moment as Yannik Keitel, Lukas Kubler, Philipp Lienhart, Kenneth Schmidt, Max Rosenfelder and Daniel-Kofi Kyereh are all set to miss out on this game owing to their respective issues.

For Bayern, they will be without Sacha Boey as he has been sidelined with an injury problem in recent weeks and won’t return to action anytime soon. In addition, Kingsley Coman is also set to remain sidelined owing to a knee problem.

Additionally, Noussair Mazraoui, Bouna Sarr and Tarek Buchmann aren’t in contention to feature on Friday due to their respective injuries. Matthijs de Ligt is also unavailable to be involved in this encounter as he is suspended.

However, the good news for the visitors is that Alphonso Davies and Serge Gnabry could return after recovering from their respective issues, but they might have to settle for a place on the bench. In addition, Dayot Upamecano – who was suspended in the last game, having picked up a red card against Bochum – is now eligible to feature in this encounter.

Predicted line-up

Freiburg boss Christian Streich could deploy a 4-2-2-2 system with Noah Atubolu likely to be in goal. Manuel Gulde and Nicolas Hofler could commence at the heart of Freiburg’s defence, while Matthias Ginter and Christian Gunter would be the two fullbacks.

Maximilian Eggestein and Merlin Rohl should be in the engine room with Ritsu Doan and Vincenzo Grifo in the advanced midfield position. Michael Gregoritsch and Lucas Holer should lead the line for Freiburg.

Expected Freiburg line-up vs Bayern Munich

Atubolu; Ginter, Gulde, Hofler, Gunter; Eggestein, Rohl; Doan, Grifo; Gregoritsch, Holer

As for Bayern Munich, Tuchel is likely to go with the 4-2-3-1 formation with Manuel Neuer set to be between the sticks. Kim Min-jae and Upamecano could be the centre-back pairing for the visitors, while Joshua Kimmich and Raphael Guerreiro are expected to be the two fullbacks.

Aleksander Pavlovic may continue in the holding midfield position and the youngster is likely to be paired up with Leon Goretzka. Thomas Muller would be in the number ten position and on either side of the German, Jamal Musiala and Leroy Sane should commence on the flanks. Harry Kane is guaranteed to be leading the line for the record German champions.

Expected Bayern Munich line-up vs Freiburg

Neuer; Kimmich, Upamecano, Kim, Guerreiro; Pavlovic, Goretzka; Muller, Musiala, Sane; Kane

Key players

Freiburg will be hoping that the striker duo, Gregoritsch and Holer, will be able to perform at their best and help the hosts win this game by putting their names on the score-sheet.

Streich’s side will have to be compact so that they don’t allow any space for Bayern’s extremely talented players. If they give room to them and play open football then they are likely to be torn apart in this encounter.

The backline will have to be at the top of their games to keep the opposition attack at bay, while the goalkeeper, Atubolu, will need to perform at his best to keep a clean-sheet in this game.

For Bayern Munich, Harry Kane has already established himself as a talismanic figure for the Bavarian club having joined them last summer, scoring 27 goals and registering five assists in 23 league appearances.

So, Tuchel’s side will be hoping that the Englishman will be at the top of his game in this fixture and if that were to happen then they will end up coming away with all three points from this encounter.

Sane enjoyed a promising start to this season but he has found it difficult to continue showcasing his best over the last few months. So, the German will have to step up his game if he wishes to help his side achieve success this campaign.

Musiala has also struggled to produce his best in recent games and the Bayern Munich fans will be hoping that the youngster will be able to help his side win this game by putting his name on the score-sheet.

Tuchel’s side have continuously been leaking goals this season. So, the backline need to stay solid to help Bayern Munich keep a clean-sheet and if they can do that then their chance of winning this game will increase.

Prediction

Although Bayern Munich have struggled this season and are currently eight points behind the league leader Bayer Leverkusen, the Bavarian club are always favourite in any games in the Bundesliga.

However, Freiburg will get the backing of the crowd in this game so they won’t go down without fighting. But, they have been in a dire form in recent times so it’s going to be very difficult for the hosts to come away with a positive result.

Therefore, it is highly likely that Bayern Munich will be able to win this game comfortably and they will be desperate to enter the crucial Champions League round of 16 second leg fixture against Lazio after winning this fixture. But, it is going to be interesting to see how the game eventually pans out on Friday night. Freiburg 1-3 Bayern Munich

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