Preview: Fortuna Dusseldorf vs Freiburg - prediction, team news, lineups

A spot in the last 16 of the DFB-Pokal is up for grabs when Fortuna Dusseldorf play host to Freiburg on Wednesday evening.

The Flingeraner began their German Cup campaign with a 4-2 victory over Schweinfurt 05 in August, while the Breisgau Brazilians booked their place in this round with a 2-0 win over Lotte.

Match preview

Two-time winners Fortuna Dusseldorf currently compete in the 2. Bundesliga, sitting 13th with 10 points from 10 games.

Despite starting their DFB-Pokal campaign with a win, Markus Anfang's men have won three, drawn one and lost six of their opening 10 league matches, lying just three points above bottom-placed Magdeburg.

Finishing just outside the promotion playoffs last season, Fortuna would have expected a stronger start to their fifth consecutive season in the second tier.

Ranking among the league's worst for goals scored and conceded, a shock win against Freiburg could provide the boost they are desperately seeking.

Wednesday night's DFB-Pokal tie represents a tough encounter against a Bundesliga side, and Fortuna will need to be at their absolute best to progress to the next round.

As for Freiburg, a fifth-place finish in the Bundesliga last season means they have been contending with Europa League football as well as domestic league and cup fixtures.

Having won two and drawn one of their three continental fixtures, they currently sit sixth in the Europa League table, while their league form has been less consistent, leaving them 11th in the Bundesliga with nine points.

Reaching the DFB-Pokal final in the 2021-22 season, losing on penalties to RB Leipzig, the Breisgau Brazilians will be hoping to go one step further this time.

However, a run of four consecutive draws across all competitions from late September to early October shows that Julian Schuster's side have struggled to consistently find the winning edge.

The last meeting between these two sides in February 2020 saw Fortuna win three of their last five encounters against Bundesliga opposition, giving the hosts some confidence heading into Wednesday's cup tie.

Fortuna Dusseldorf DFB-Pokal form:

Fortuna Dusseldorf form (all competitions):

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Freiburg DFB-Pokal form:

Freiburg form (all competitions):

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Team News

Fortuna appear to come away from their last 2. Bundesliga match unscathed, allowing Anfang to name the same XI once again.

However, they will likely be without top scorer Cedric Itten, who was forced off with an injury against Eintracht Braunschweig and subsequently missed the defeat against Hertha Berlin.

Should Itten miss out, Danny Schmidt is expected to retain his place as the sole striker.

Club captain Florian Kastenmeier will likely start in goal once again, with a 4-1-4-1 formation expected to be used.

With Freiburg managing three competitions this season, they may choose to freshen the lineup for the trip to Dusseldorf.

Despite Philipp Lienhart being sent off in their 2-0 Bundesliga defeat to Bayer Leverkusen on Sunday, he will be available for selection in the DFB-Pokal fixture.

Missing nearly three years of action, Daniel-Kofi Kyereh is slowly edging closer to a return, but Wednesday's encounter comes too soon for the Ghanaian forward.

Fortuna Dusseldorf possible starting lineup:

Kastenmeier; Zimmermann, Oberdorf, Daland, Heyer; Breithaupt; Rasmussen, Muslija, Azzouzi, Iyoha; Schmidt

Freiburg possible starting lineup:

Atubolu; Kubler, Ginter, Lienhart, Gunter; Eggestein, Grifo; Treu, Holer, Scherhant; Adamu

We say: Fortuna Dusseldorf 1-3 Freiburg

With recent experience of reaching the latter stages of the DFB-Pokal and competing in the division above, Freiburg are expected to return to winning ways on Wednesday.

Rarely scoring and often conceding, Fortuna will face a difficult task and will need Schuster's men to have an off day if they are to take anything from this cup fixture.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.