Match Preview: Borussia Dortmund Look to Snap Losing Streak Against SC Freiburg

Borussia Dortmund have lost two matches in a row, and are at risk of heading into the October international break with a three-game losing or winless steak. The club needs to start winning before the season gets out of hand before it’s even begun. BVB will have a chance to do so tomorrow against SC Freiburg.

Freiburg have gotten off to a decent start in the Bundesliga. They started the season with a win against newly-promoted VFB Stuttgart on matchday one, and drew Wolfsburg 1-1 last weekend. Despite their strong start, Freiburg are likely going to struggle this season, having lost Gian-Luca Waldschmidt and Robin Koch during the offseason. The good news for them, however, is that Vincenzo Grifo and Nils Petersen, two of Freiburg’s most prolific goal scorers from last season, have gotten off to strong starts, with pair of goal contributions each over the first two matches.

Borussia Dortmund are still suffering from several injuries and illnesses. Both Roman Bürki and Jadon Sancho have non-Covid respiratory illnesses, and will miss tomorrow’s match. Thorgan Hazard is still sidelined with a hamstring injury that he suffered against Borussia Mönchengladbach. Thankfully, several players who weren’t fully fit against Augsburg should be ready to go against Freiburg tomorrow.

Predicted Lineup

If there’s one thing I’ve learned writing about Lucien Favre’s Borussia Dortmund, it’s that it’s almost impossible to predict which lineup Favre will field. You think he’s in love with the back four? BOOM! Back three. Think he’s gonna start Witsel because he was rested earlier in the week? BOOM! Delaney and Dahoud in midfield.

While the 5-3-2 was very effective against Bayern’s high press, I believe it will be much less useful against Freiburg, who are sure to sit deep. That’s why I think Favre will switch from a back three to a back four, and that it will look something like this. There are a few different possibilities as well. Passlack played a full 90 minutes against Bayern, so maybe Schulz will start at left back, or Guerreiro will play there, Reus will shift to the left, and Gio Reyna will start on the right.

I’d like to think that Julian Brandt’s solid performance against Bayern will win him a start. Again, I’d *like* to think this. It’s possible that Bellingham will play in a more attacking role instead of Brandt, and that Emre Can will play in midfield with Axel Witsel.

Score Prediction

Oh yeah, we’re doing these! I’m gonna predict that BVB finally get another win to the tune of a comfortable 3-0 victory. What do you predict? Leave your thoughts below.