Match Preview: Dortmund Look to Turn Things Around vs. Freiburg

We’re back to Bundesliga action as Borussia Dortmund looks to right the ship against Freiburg. BVB will be on the road for this one, as they travel to the Schwarzweld-Stadion in the Breisgau region for the match.

Dortmund are coming off a 2-0 win against Slavia Praha in UEFA Champions League action on Tuesday. However, despite the comfortable scoreline, the match itself was anything but. The team didn’t look comfortable on the ball or in general for most of the night as Slavia held their own incredibly well against Dortmund and even took the game to them a number of times. Thankfully Achraf Hakimi was there to save the day as the Moroccan fullback put two in the back of the net for the win.

The team hasn’t looked great for a full 90 this season aside from the demolition of Leverkusen. Whether it’s exhaustion, the tactics not working, or just bad luck, Dortmund have looked very un-Dortmund-like very recently and perhaps some rotation is necessary going into Saturday’s contest. With Alcácer still out, I’d like to see Götze play that false nine roll while Brandt should play for Reus as he desperately needs a break.

As for Freiburg, they currently sit a surprising third in the table with 13 points from six matches for their best-ever start to a Bundesliga season. Their biggest win of the season came against Hoffenheim in a 3-0 decision on September 15. Luca Waldschmidt is their leading scorer with four goals. That’s literally all I know about Freiburg. While they haven’t played many tough opponents, they did smack Hoffenheim around at their own stadium; Hoffenheim may not be what they were under Nagelsmann, but that’s still a respectable achievement for a club that has hovered around midtable since their return to the top flight.

Prediction: 2-0 Win

While Freiburg are in the midst of a fine start to their season and Dortmund haven’t exactly lit the world on fire lately, BVB has won three of the last five meetings between the two clubs and Freiburg haven’t won a match against Dortmund in their last 16 meetings. Am I jinxing the squad by pointing out this interesting fact? Probably. Is it going to matter come opening kick-off? Hopefully not. I can see the quality of Dortmund leading them through this one to a nervy 2-0 win thanks to some late goals by Sancho and… I don’t know, Hummels.