Freiburg and Borussia Dortmund are separated by a solitary point in the Bundesliga table ahead of Saturday's showdown at the Europa-Park Stadion.
While the hosts have won two of their three league outings this season, the visitors have recorded one win and two draws to remain unbeaten.
Match preview
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Freiburg entered the international break on the back of a shock 5-0 thrashing at the hands of Stuttgart, who raced into a 3-0 lead inside 19 minutes before heaping more misery on their visitors after the break, with Chris Fuhrich and Serhou Guirassy both scoring twice in the rout.
Christian Streich's men started the season on a high, claiming an easy DFB-Pokal victory over Oberachern before securing back-to-back league wins against Hoffenheim and Werder Bremen, but they were brought back down to earth with a bang last time out.
Still, only the top two - Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen - have picked up more points than Freiburg after three games, so Breisgau-Brasilianer will back themselves to return to winning ways as quickly as possible, having experienced a rare blip in their previous match.
It is also worth noting that Freiburg have lost just two of their last 17 Bundesliga encounters at the Europa-Park Stadion, meaning that Streich's side finished the previous campaign with the fifth-best home record in the division, in addition to the second-best defensive record on home soil.
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Having missed out on the Bundesliga title in agonising fashion last season - leading the way for much of 2022-23 before surrendering to rivals Bayern Munich on the final day of the campaign - Borussia Dortmund would have been determined to hit the ground running this term.
However, the perennial runners-up have flattered to deceive so far, claiming a narrow 1-0 victory over FC Koln in their first match before recording draws against VfL Bochum and newly-promoted Heidenheim to leave them four points behind the early frontrunners.
Following an 88th-minute winner from Donyell Malen on the opening weekend, BVB conceded 20 shots against Bochum before throwing away a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with Heidenheim last time out, despite racking up 19 goal attempts while dominating possession on home soil.
Even so, Dortmund have now avoided defeat in each of their last 11 Bundesliga outings, with a solitary loss coming in their previous 22 league games, so Edin Terzic and his players will be confident of kick-starting their campaign before too long.
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Team News
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With Noah Atubolu (ankle), Christian Gunter (elbow), Lucas Holer (ankle), Yannik Keitel (groin) and Daniel-Kofi Kyereh (knee) sidelined through injury, Freiburg boss Christian Streich has plenty of selection dilemmas to address.
Lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, the hosts look set to start with Michael Gregoritsch as the lone striker on Saturday, while Roland Sallai, Lucas Holer and Vincenzo Grifo should operate behind the Austrian forward.
Borussia Dortmund will also be without a number of key players due to injury this weekend, with Julien Duranville (thigh), Niclas Fullkrug (muscle), Gregor Kobel (hip), Thomas Meunier (thigh) and Mateu Morey Bauza (knee) on the treatment table.
There are also question marks over the fitness of American playmaker Giovanni Reyna and Algerian defender Ramy Bensebaini, giving BVB manager Edin Terzic a lot to think about when it comes to choosing his starting XI.
Donyell Malen and Karim Adeyemi are expected to join former West Ham United striker Sebastien Haller in the visitors' three-man forward line, while midfielders Marcel Sabitzer, Emre Can and Julian Brandt should line up in a 4-3-3 formation.
Freiburg possible starting lineup:
Atubolu; Sildillia, Ginter, Lienhart, Kubler; Eggestein, Hofler; Sallai, Holer, Grifo; Gregoritsch
Borussia Dortmund possible starting lineup:
Meyer; Wolf, Sule, Schlotterbeck, Bensebaini; Sabitzer, Can, Brandt; Malen, Haller, Adeyemi
We say: Freiburg 2-2 Borussia Dortmund
We expect Freiburg and Borussia Dortmund to dish up a high-scoring thriller as both sides bid to return to winning ways, with a draw looking like the most probable outcome at the Europa-Park Stadion.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
