German Bundesliga - Freiburg vs. Borussia Monchengladbach - Preview & Prediction

Eighth-placed Freiburg will hope to edge closer to the Bundesliga’s top-six while hosting Borussia Monchengladbach, who have a top-four finish firmly set in their sights. Kick-off - at 14:30 PM ET on Friday, June 5.

Freiburg Lose To Leverkusen

Freiburg remained without a win for the fourth straight contest (D2 L2) after being edged out with a count of 1-0 by top-four aspirants Bayer Leverkusen at Schwarzwald-Stadion last Friday. The Black Forest club controlled just 31% of the ball possession but managed to outshoot the visitors 9-7, with Lucas Holer and Nils Petersen coming close to scoring for Freiburg, who allowed the only snipe of the game in the 54th minute. The team from Baden-Wurttemberg has won just one of its last eight fixtures (W1 D3 L4), currently sitting 8th in the league (W10 D8 L11), four points below the top-six.

German striker Petersen leads Freiburg with nine goals this season and has netted four times in 11 past appearances against Borussia Monchengladbach. Goalie Alexander Schwolow, meanwhile, occupies the 13th place in the Bundesliga with 70 saves. He has picked up three clean sheets in 20 league appearances this year and allows a goal every 67 minutes on average. Freiburg is 12th in most goals scored during the current campaign (38), 10th in most shots taken (13 per game), 11th in ball possession (48.4%) and 8th in passing accuracy (78.1%).

Gladbach Thrash Union Berlin

Borussia Monchengladbach retained their hopes of finishing in the top-four of Bundesliga this season after beating league newcomers Union Berlin with a score of 4-1 at Borussia-Park on Sunday. Following in the footsteps of Serge Gnabry (Bayern Munich), Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund) and Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Alassane Plea became just the fourth player across Europe’s top five leagues to reach double figures for both goals (10) and assists (10) this season, banking a snipe against the Iron Ones, while also providing two helpers. Marcus Thuram netted twice, with Florian Neuhaus also on the scoreboard, as Gladbach currently sit 4th in Germany’s top tier (W17 D5 L7), two points below 3rd-placed RB Leipzig.

French tandem of Plea and Thuram lead the Foals with 10 snipes each, having combined for 18 assists in the league so far as well. Goalie Yann Sommer, meanwhile, remains top of the Bundesliga’s keeper chart with a total of 114 saves made, having also recorded six clean sheets in 29 outings. He concedes a goal every 75 minutes of play. Gladbach has scored the 4th highest number of goals thus far this year (57), while sitting 6th in most shots taken (13.7 per game). The team is 6th in both ball possession (51.5%) and passing accuracy (81.1%).

Prediction

Freiburg has won just one of their previous eight outings (W1 D3 L4), going without a victory in their past four fixtures (D2 L2). Still, hosting a team, against which the Black Forest club has performed well on own turf throughout the past few years, could finally bring a much-needed boost. Freiburg has triumphed in their last three home outings against Gladbach, going unbeaten versus the Foals for 11 straight domestic fixtures in the Bundesliga (W9 D2) - a club record. The team from Baden-Wurttemberg has also allowed just one goal in each of its last three home matches, while both teams have gotten on the scoreboard in 10 of the past 11 Bundesliga contests of Gladbach - just like in the previous four head-to-head meetings between Freiburg and the Foals.

Best bets:

Draw (+300)

Correct score: 1-1 (+500)

Both teams to score (-155)