Our next opponents: Set play kings of the league strong at home

Position

SC Freiburg have received praise in the media this season. Justifiably as the team from the Breisgau were established at the top of the table up to the long winter break and at the end of the last year they made another statement of intent with a 4-1 home win against Union Berlin. 30 points, second place, just four points behind FC Bayern – in a good position at the end of the year.

The start of 2023 was not quite so successful. That began with a 6-0 defeat away to VfL Wolfsburg. A draw against Eintracht Frankfurt (1-1) and a 3-1 win against FC Augsburg was followed by the next setback with a 5-1 defeat away to Borussia Dortmund. But Freiburg were not thrown off course. Quite the contrary: The team under coach Christian Streich appears to be so settled that they can gain strength from such setbacks. SCF progressed in the DFB Cup Round of 16 with a 2-0 win at second division SV Sandhausen. That was followed by a somewhat fortunate win against VfB Stuttgart (2-1) and last weekend's very comfortable 2-0 victory away to VfL Bochum, who had previously clocked up five home wins on the bounce.

With 40 points after 21 games, Freiburg already have seven points more than at the same point last season when they ended up sixth in the table. "Since we've been working together, we haven't had that number of points so early on and in these areas," said Christian Streich. The longest-serving coach in the Bundesliga has been the head coach at SCF for over eleven years. It could be that he is enjoying his most successful season with the club. The team from the Breisgau are still in three competitions. They qualified for the Round of 16 in the Europa League as clear winners of their group (four wins, two draws) and have now been drawn against Juventus. SC Freiburg also have a tricky task in the quarter-finals of the DFB Cup on 4 April with an away tie at Bayern Munich. And SCF are only three points behind the record champions going into matchday 22. "We are in an exceptionally good position and that obviously pleases me," said Streich. The 57-year-old now wants to "play in the home game against Leverkusen so we have a chance of winning. Everything else will take care of itself and you only get plaudits when you do it well."

Personnel

One player has done it very well recently after being sidelined for three months with a metatarsal injury and then only appearing from the bench: Lukas Höler was the match winner in the 2-0 win in Bochum. The 28-year-old striker scored the crucial goal and was a constant threat in the Bochum penalty area. "Now he's been rewarded with a goal again and the great runs he made, and he is doing his part for the team," said Streich in praise of his forward. Höler also scored at home against Augsburg and in the 5-1 defeat in Dortmund. He fits in very well with fellow striker Michael Gregoritsch. The latter is also a regular in the Freiburg attack with eight goals as is the top goalscorer Vincenzo Grifo with eleven goals as well as the Japanese player Ritsu Doan (two goals). SCF also have options in terms of creativity. Roland Sallai, Woo-Yeong Jeong and Yannik Keitel are available. Only Daniel-Kofi Kyereh (torn cruciate) is out of action for the rest of the season. The central midfield on Sunday will probably again see Nicolas Höfler and Maximilian Eggestein pulling the strings.

The Freiburg defence is also performing well. Christian Streich almost always fields a back four in front of goalkeeper Mark Flekken. The two central defenders are Matthias Ginter and Philipp Lienhart. The Freiburg coach will have to make changes in the full-back positions against the Werkself as captain Christian Günter is serving a one-match ban. So, either Lukas Kübler or Kiliann Sildillia, who normally play on the right, will move over to the left.

Performers

Set plays are again one of the biggest strengths of SC Freiburg this term. With 17 goals, including six penalties, the Streich team are top of the league in this ranking. SCF scored to their three goals from corners in the 3-2 win at Bayer 04 in the Hinrunde. The team from the Breisgau also took the lead last weekend in Bochum through Gregoritsch from a Grifo corner.

And SCF also have another top statistic: Freiburg have kept nine clean sheets this season. Taking all the previous 30 matches in the Bundesliga, Europa League and the DFB Cup, Freiburg have played 13 games without conceding. SC Freiburg would have the best defence in the league if they had not suffered the two heavy defeats in Wolfsburg (0-6) and Dortmund (1-5). SCF have only lost at home to Borussia Dortmund at the Europa Park Stadium this season (seven wins, two draws) and have only conceded eight goals at home. By comparison: The Werkself have let in twice as many at the BayArena.  

Problems

The team under Christian Streich have not regained the same top level on the pitch as they had before the World Cup break. After the defeats in Wolfsburg and Dortmund with 11 goals conceded, the 57-year-old has looked for his team to be more determined in challenges and more compact in defending as a team. There was a defensive frailty in the first half of the season above all against top teams in the league. Bayern secured a 5-0 victory and they lost 3-1 at RB Leipzig.

Prediction

Twelve wins, four draws and five defeats – that record after 21 games has only happened once before in Freiburg's time in the Bundesliga: in the 1994/95 season under coach Volker Finke. SCF finished third that season and that was their highest ever position in Germany's top flight. Today that would be enough to qualify for the Champions League. That would be a first for SC Freiburg. They are currently far away from openly talking about that target. There is still a long way to go in the season and the Streich team are involved in three competitions. Freiburg showed last season that they have stamina and will not run out of steam. In the league they were playing for fourth place up to the final matchday and just missed out on qualifying for Europe's premier club competition. They lost on penalties to RB Leipzig in the DFB Cup final. They did not miss out by much. SC Freiburg could be ready to make the big step forwards this season. "The demands increase constantly amongst ourselves and from outside," said Christian Streich and he knows what's important: "Now we need to look to retain our relaxed approach." That could be enough to secure a ticket for the Champions League.