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Borussia Dortmund v. SC Freiburg
Perennial Bundesliga yo-yo SC Freiburg is back in the top division after a year playing in, and wining the second division. Tonight, they come to Dortmund having won two out of the first four matches this season. Manager Christian Streich is still at the helm, having been there for almost five years. Freiburg has built their program around youth development, investing in young players and selling them on… the Southampton of the Bundesliga if you will. Dennis Aogo Vladimir Darida, Ömer Toprak, and of course, Dortmund’s own Roman Bürki and Matthias Ginter all made their way through the Schwarzwald club.
Dortmund come into this match as clear favorites having outscored their last three opponents 17-1 in all competitions. And if Streich plays any way like he did the last time the sides faced each other in the Rückrunde of the 2015-2016 season, Dortmund should be facing a relatively easy day at the office. That said this has the potential to be a trap game for Dortmund with the impending visit of Madrid next week, followed by a visit to Leverkusen to face the Chicharito and the Werkself. With Bartra out injured and Sven Bender still nursing an injury from his Olympic adventures, Tuchel will have to give Matze Ginter a start against his old side, employ Piszczek there, or do some kind of a back three. With rotation in mind for the clearly tougher matches against the reigning Champions League winners and the last year’s Bundesliga third place finisher, it is pretty much guesswork to see what Tuchel has planned for this evening. Thanks be to Zorc we are so deep this year right?
Regardless of who starts in the attacking midfield, they will have to be aware of Dortmund fan ‘favorite’ Georg Niedermeier who developed a legendary reputation of late, nasty challenges while playing more than a few years for now-relegated VfB Stuttgart. Niedermeier only has two substitute appearances this year thus far but is a contender to be a regular for the club.
Prediction: BVB 2-0 SC Freiburg