Bottom-placed Freiburg are hoping to escape the relegation zone before the winter break, but that looks easier said than done at the moment. Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund, on the other hand, arrive to Badenova Stadion searching for their first win after three successive slip ups in all competitions.

Tough times for Freiburg

Freiburg were flying high throughout last season and if it hadn’t been for the poor finish of the league campaign, they would have probably ensured European qualification. Everybody at the club obviously knew that the team would not be able to repeat such performances this term, but they certainly didn’t expect Freiburg to be sitting at rock bottom after 16 Bundesliga rounds. While that was a bit surprising, we cannot really say that Marcus Sorg’s side don’t deserve to be where they are at the moment, seeing they have been utterly disappointing both home and away. The players are clearly low on spirits following the five-match winless run and after losing 4:0 to struggling Koln, they are likely to face a tough task against resurgent Borussia. With several important players missing out through injury, Freiburg certainly don’t have much to hope for at the moment.

Midfielder Julian Schuster misses out through suspension, whereas Mensur Mujdza, Oliver Barth and Christian Bickel are all sidelined.

Important game for Borussia

Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund have find it really hard to cope with the busy schedule at the start to the season, having struggled on both domestic and European campaign. Jurgen Klopp’s side managed to hit the ground running at the beginning of October, with several impressive league wins, including the triumph over Bayern at Alianz Arena, seeing them return to the right track in Bundesliga, but it was already too late for BVB to try and salvage their European campaign. Following the run of seven victories in eight league games, Dortmund recorded back to back draws against Borussia M’gladbach and Kaiserslautern, even if they had taken the lead in both games. Jurgen Klopp’s side are now three points behind leaders Bayern and just two in front of fifth-placed Werder, so they are aware that a win over Freiburg is a must if they are to go on holiday in good spirits.

Neven Subotic, Mario Goetze, Sven Bender and Moritz Leitner are all sidelined, whereas Lukas Barrios and Ilkay Gundogan are both doubtful.

Verdict

Freiburg are in all sorts of problems at the moment and they certainly look like the weakest side in Bundesliga this season. Borussia, on the other hand, have been playing well of late and I really believe they have what it takes to win this game.

Our prediction: Borussia with -0.75 Asian handicap

Odds: 1.80 (4/5)

Bookmaker: Stan James