Preview: Freiburg vs. FC Koln - prediction, team news, lineups

Two of the surprise packages of the new Bundesliga season so far meet at the Schwarzwald-Stadion on Saturday, as Freiburg welcome FC Koln.

Currently sitting in the European places in the table, neither side will have welcomed the international break halting their strong starts to the campaign.

Match preview

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Back in the summer, Freiburg could not have wished for a much better start to the new season under manager Christian Streich.

This weekend's hosts currently sit fourth in the table after the opening three league matches, with two wins and a draw meaning this is their best ever start to a Bundesliga campaign.

In fact, including the DFB-Pokal win in their first competitive match, it means that Freiburg have also made an unbeaten start.

The highlights of this run have been in the last two games, where they have seen off title challengers Borussia Dortmund 2-1 at the Schwarzwald-Stadion, before defeating rivals Stuttgart on their own patch last time out before the break.

A thrilling derby saw Freiburg edge out their rivals 3-2, with all five goals arriving in the first half. Woo-Yeong Jeong netted a brace inside the opening nine minutes, before Lucas Holer extended their lead before the half-hour mark.

However, it turned out to be a nervy second half of football, with two goals conceded on the stroke of half time leaving the visitors with their backs to the wall all of a sudden, before seeing out the rest of the match relatively comfortably.

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Although Koln have not remained unbeaten at the start of their season, they too have begun strongly themselves.

Home wins over Hertha Berlin and VfL Bochum have come either side of a narrow defeat away to champions Bayern Munich, before the players jetted out for international duty.

These results have seen new manager Steffen Baumgart lead his side to an unlikely sixth place currently, after narrowly avoiding relegation in recent years.

One of the big changes Baumgart has overseen so far is Koln's effectiveness in front of goal. Seven goals have been scored in the first three league matches, which is an impressive return for any side, never mind a team that only managed 34 goals in as many games last season.

Most recently, Koln overcame newly-promoted Bochum on home turf via a 2-1 scoreline.

The Billy Goats enjoyed near complete domination throughout a match that was heading towards a goalless draw until a flurry of late goals in the final 10 minutes or so, with Louis Schaub and Tim Lemperle netting for this weekend's visitors.

Team News

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Freiburg head into Saturday's match with just the one injury concern to contend with it appears.

Midfielder Nicolas Hofler is expected to miss out, with summer signing Maximilian Eggestein likely to take his place.

Right-back Jonathan Schmid has returned from a bout of COVID-19, so should replace Lukas Kubler in the starting lineup.

For the visitors, youngster Jan Thielmann has recently recovered from a cold but the match is expected to come too soon for him as he regains his fitness.

Timo Hubers (knock) and Jannes Horn (hip) also remain missing so manager Baumgart is likely to stick with the side that were victorious over Bochum before the break.

Freiburg possible starting lineup:

Flekken; Schmid, Lienhart, Schlotterbeck, Gunter; Sallai, Keitel, Eggestein, Grifo; Jeong, Holer

FC Koln possible starting lineup:

T Horn; Schmitz, Mere, Czichos, Hector; Skhiri; Ljubicic, Duda, Kainz; Modeste, Andersson

We say: Freiburg 2-1 FC Koln

An entertaining game should be on the cards here, with both sides hopefully looking to play on the front foot after their strong starts to the season. However, Freiburg's home advantage should be enough to see them edge out Koln by a 2-1 scoreline we say.