German Bundesliga Soccer - Freiburg vs. Schalke 04, 6/27/20 - Preview, Prediction & Odds
Out-of-form Schalke 04 will try to end the current Bundesliga campaign by snapping their 15-game winless run during a trip to the Black Forest, with local Freiburg playing host on the back of a defeat to champions Bayern Munich. Kick-off - at 9:30 AM ET on Saturday, June 27.
Freiburg Get Beaten By Champions
Freiburg’s hopes of maintaining the team’s race with Wolfsburg and Hoffenheim for a place in the next season’s Europa League were destroyed, as the Black Forest club suffered a 3-1 defeat against newly-crowned champions Bayern Munich away at Allianz Arena last Saturday. Hoping that Bayern would not be 100% focused after clinching their 30th league title just a few days back, Freiburg ended up controlling just 39% of the ball possession, being outshot 23-11, with the team’s only goal, courtesy of Lucas Holer, coming when the hosts were already leading 2-0. Currently sitting 8th in the standings (W12 D9 L12), SCF will not finish the season lower than 9th.
German forwards Nils Petersen and Holer lead Freiburg with 11 and seven league snipes respectively. Goalie Mark Flekken, meanwhile, sits 19th in Germany’s top division with 50 saves this season. He has picked up two clean sheets in nine appearances this year and concedes a goal every 58 minutes on average. Freiburg has scored the 11th highest number of goals during the current campaign (44) while taking the 10th highest quantity of shots per game (13.1). The team is 11th in ball possession (48.1%) and 8th in passing accuracy (78.1%).
Schalke Extend Winless Streak
The club-record winless run of Schalke 04 stretched out to 15 consecutive games (D6 L9) after the team from Gelsenkirchen dropped its second straight contest following a 4-1 home defeat to Wolfsburg at Veltins-Arena last Saturday. The Royal Blues outshot the visitors 11-10 but found themselves four goals down in the first 70 minutes of the game, with Rabbi Matondo netting his second strike of the season as a consolation, thus putting Schalke on the Bundesliga scoreboard only for the ninth time in the calendar year of 2020. The Royal Blues currently sit 11th with a W9 D12 L12 record.
Schalke 04 top-scorers Suat Serdar (7 goals) and Amine Harit (6) are still out with injuries, with Benito Raman currently being the highest-scoring available option for the Royal Blues with four Bundesliga markers for the year. Goalie Alexander Nubel, meanwhile, sits 12th in the league with 80 saves. He has recorded six clean sheets in 25 contests this season and allows a goal every 62 minutes of play. Schalke 04 are 4th in the least goals netted during the ongoing campaign (38), 3rd in the least shots delivered per game (11), 8th in ball possession (49.7%), and 10th in passing accuracy (77.5%).
Prediction
After last weekend’s defeat to Bayern Munich, Freiburg knocked themselves out of the race to qualify for European soccer next season. The Black Forest team can still, though, end the current Bundesliga campaign on a high, notching a home win against Schalke 04, who have already gone without a win versus SCF for their last three head-to-head encounters (D2 L1). In addition to that, the Royal Blues have failed to win any of their last 15 Bundesliga contests (D6 L9) and have managed to muster just a single victory on their past four trips to Freiburg (W1 L3), failing to score a single goal in each defeat.
Best bet:
Freiburg to win to nil (+240)