Freiburg is welcoming Bayern Munich to Schwarzwald-Stadion in round 16 of German Bundesliga.
Freiburg was expected to be one of the worst teams in Bundesliga this season but after 15 games, Freiburg is on high 6th place with 25 points, 24 scored goals, and 18 conceded goals. Freiburg’s form has been a bit sloppy as of late and they won only 1 of their last 5 games. In their last Bundesliga match versus Hertha away from home, Freiburg had 61% of ball possession, 3 shots on goal, 7 corner kicks, and 83% of the correct passes. Freiburg had a few good chances in this game, but unfortunately, their offense wasn’t in the mood and Freiburg lost this game 1-0. Nils Petersen scored 6 goals for Freiburg so far, while Gunter added 6 assists. There is a lot of injuries in Freiburg and that is one of the main reasons why their form is declining. Kluber, Tempelmann, Waldschmidt, Kath, Lienhart, Ravet, and Jeong are all injured and coach Streich will not have them at his disposal. Freiburg is playing good soccer both at home and away, and their offense was solid so far, but most of the points that Freiburg has won, they won with a firm and steady defense. The problem for Freiburg is that their defense is slowly losing focus and consistency which is normal for a team with so many injuries. Good news for Freiburg and coach Streich is that Freiburg has only 2 games left this year which means that most of the injured players could recover until the Bundesliga starts again on January 18. Many were surprised by Freiburg this season, I included, but we are yet to see if they have enough depth and quality to stay in the top 10 of the Bundesliga table.
Bayern had 2 losses in a row in Bundesliga, but last week was great for them. Bayern first beat Tottenham in the Champions League, and then Werder Bremen at home in Bundesliga. In the match versus Werder, Bayern was absolutely stunning with 73% of ball possession, 14 shots on goal, 8 corner kicks, and 89% of the correct passes. Bayern started this game poorly and they were losing in 24th minute, but that seemed to have awoken Bayern and by the end of the first half Bayern was leading 2-1. The second half was a completely different story and Bayern scored another 4 goals and has won this match 6-1. Bayern is in 5th place in the standings right now with 27 points, 6 points behind Leipzig at the top. With 41 scored goals, Bayern is the second-best attacking team in Bundesliga. Defensively, Bayern is improving but they are still not good enough, and they will have to be better if they want to have a shot in the Champions League. Lewandowski is Bayern’s top goalscorer with massive 18 goals in 15 games, while Muller added 9 assists. Bayern also has a lot of injuries and some important players like Hernandez, Sule, Coman, and Goretzka will not be at coach Flick’s disposal. In the Champions League, Bayern has drawn Chelsea in the Top 16 and this should be a really good matchup between two really good teams who prefer attacking soccer over the defense. In their last two games in Bundesliga this year Bayern is playing against Freiburg and Wolfsburg. I’m sure that Bayern’s management can’t wait for this Christmas break to give the players time to rest and for the injured players to recover, but if Bayern wants to be competitive, they will need to sign another defender or two in the winter transfer window.
Freiburg is a good team, and I think they would be worth a look against any other teams, but Bayern seems to be awake now and ready to win their last two games. Both Freiburg and Bayern have a lot of injuries, but Bayern has more depth and quality and for that reason, I will side with Bayern.
Goran’s Pick First Half Result: Bayern -1.5 +200
AUTHOR: Goran Kucar
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