Freiburg could end gameweek seven atop the Bundesliga table after hosting 13th-placed Augsburg at Europa-Park-Stadion on Saturday.
The fourth-placed hosts are only two points shy of joint-leaders Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig and aim to record their fifth triumph of the 2024-25 season against an opponent that have so far struggled on their travels.
Match preview
Freiburg may have been stunned by promoted St. Pauli at the end of September, but the Breisgau Brazilians responded with a 1-0 win over Werder Bremen before the hiatus to retain their place in the league's top four.
With 12 points from six games, Julian Schuster's team have surpassed Bayer Leverkusen in the standings and are now within two points of the league leaders, Bayern and Leipzig.
The campaign has started commendably for the new man at the helm, who replaced long-serving Christian Streich in the summer after nearly 13 years in charge.
Although it remains to be seen how long the honeymoon phase lasts, supporters will be pleased by their team's strong start after ending 10th in the German top division in 2023-24.
The home side's minimalist approach has produced nine goals in six matches, while three conceded against St. Pauli appear to be an anomaly, with just four shipped in their five other games.
After returning to winning ways at Bremen, Freiburg return to Europa-Park-Stadion after that St. Pauli loss, keen to get back to winning in front of their supporters against a club that have lost both road matches this term.
Augsburg suffered a 4-0 defeat at Heidenheim in gameweek two and another loss by the same score in round five at RB Leipzig, even if they bounced back with a 2-1 win over Borussia Monchengladbach at WWK Arena.
Jess Thorup's side have the fifth-best record considering home results after accruing seven points from four games but rank bottom for away results.
Both defeats have continued the club's wretched road form, with six consecutive losses dating to the previous campaign following victories against Darmstadt (6-0) and Wolfsburg (3-1) in March.
Since those wins, the Bavarians have now suffered a pair of 3-1 losses at Hoffenheim and Frankfurt, a 5-1 thrashing at Borussia Dortmund, a 2-1 reverse at Leverkusen and this term's 4-0 losses at Heidenheim and Leipzig.
Although supporters hope to avoid another unsatisfactory outcome on their travels, the previous four visits to Freiburg have disappointed, with 10 conceded and one goal scored, pointing to another disheartening result this weekend.
Team News
Philipp Lienhart (back) and Kenneth Schmidt (abdominal) are doubtful for Saturday, but the trio of Daniel-Kofi Kyereh (knee), Merlin Rohl (ankle) and Manuel Gulde (back) are not anticipated to be ready for the hosts.
With three match-winning goals, Ritsu Doan leads the Bundesliga in decisive strikes, despite having scored only three times this season, and he aims to retain that clinical edge this weekend.
While Keven Schlotterbeck's participation is uncertain due to a back injury, Robert Gumny (knee), Daniel Klein (foot) and Ruben Vargas (ankle) are not expected to feature for the away side.
Samuel Essende has notched two goals for Augsburg and hopes to add to that tally for the struggling visitors.
Freiburg possible starting lineup:
Atubolu; Kubler, Ginter, Lienhart, Gunter; Eggestein, Osterhage; Doan, Dinkci, Grifo; Adamu
Augsburg possible starting lineup:
Labrovic; Bauer, Gouweleeuw, Matsima; Wolf, Onyeka, Jakic, Giannoulis; Rexhbecaj; Mounie, Essende
We say: Freiburg 2-1 Augsburg
Even though Augsburg have fired blanks in both 4-0 road losses this season, they are backed to find the back of the net this weekend. However, Freiburg should nick Saturday's result to continue their strong start and extend their winning record against gameweek seven's opponents on home turf.
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