Borussia Dortmund vs Freiburg Match Preview: Classic Encounter, Key Battle, Team News & More

Borussia Dortmund return to the Westfallenstadion on Saturday in search of their first win of the Rückrunde. However, Christian Streich's Freiburg will be

Borussia Dortmund return to the Westfallenstadion on Saturday in search of their first win of the Rückrunde. 

However, Christian Streich's Freiburg will be hoping to keep Dortmund's winless run in 2018 running for at least another week, with the Breisgau-Brasilianer just above the relegation places in the Bundesliga table.

Here's everything you need to know about the game:

Classic Encounter

Martin Rose/GettyImages

For our classic encounter this week, we're looking at Christian Streich's second trip to Dortmund after being appointed Freiburg manager. 

Against a star-studded Borussia Dortmund team who were managed by Jürgen Klopp, the visitors threw away an early one-goal lead, and ended up on the end of a hammering from the reigning Bundesliga champions.

Just over 10 minutes after Jonathan Schmid put the Breisgau-Brasilianer into a shock lead, a Robert Lewandowski brace either side of Nuri Sahin's left-footed strike put Dortmund into a 3-1 lead at half-time.

The hosts' Turkish midfielder scored his second goal of the game on his trusted left foot with just over 15 minutes remaining, leaving enough time for Leonardo Bittencourt to come off the bench and round off the scoring by notching Dortmund's fifth goal of the game.

Key Battle

Julian Weigl vs Robin Koch

Fresh off the back of scoring Freiburg's winner against RB Leipzig last week, Robin Koch will have his hands full at the Westfallenstadion this weekend attempting to quell Dortmund's creativity.

The 21-year-old - who is a centre-back by trade - is having an incredible maiden season in the Bundesliga following his €4m move from FC Kaiserslautern in the summer, scoring two goals in 11 league appearances.

Dortmund's defensive midfielder, Julian Weigl, should have a much quieter afternoon than Koch. However, with Freiburg set to offer a huge threat on the counter-attack and from set pieces, the German international will have to be switched on throughout the 90 minutes.

Team News

Sebastian Widmann/GettyImages

Although Neven Subotić was unlikely to be part of Peter Stöger's matchday squad this weekend, the Dortmund icon recently completed a permanent move to French side Saint-Étienne, ending his 10-year spell at the club.

Marcel Schmelzer, Raphaël Guerreiro, Erik Durm and Sebastian Rode are Dortmund's defensive minded players who are still sidelined, while Marco Reus and Maxi Philipp remain unavailable for selection in attack.

However, one boost for Dortmund is the potential return of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to the matchday squad, with Bild reporting that the Gabonese striker will be allowed to play this weekend.

For Christian Streich's injury-plagued Freiburg, as many as seven players will miss the game on Saturday, the most notable of which are Florian Niederlechner, Bartosz Kapustka and Philipp Lienhart.

Potential Borussia Dortmund Starting Lineup: Bürki, Piszczek, Sokratis, Toprak, Toljan, Weigl, Pulisic, Götze, Kagawa, Sancho, Isak.

Potential SC Freiburg Starting Lineup: Schwolow, Stenzel, Gulde, Kempf, Söyüncü, Günter, Koch, Abrashi, Haberer,Terrazzino, Petersen.

Prediction

Lars Baron/GettyImages

Although Freiburg will be travelling to Dortmund with a lot of confidence following their win over Die Roten Bullen last week, Christian Streich has only ever claimed one point out of a possible 30 as a manager against Borussia Dortmund.

With Die Schwarzgelbenback in front of their own supporters too, and in desperate need of their first win of the Rückrunde, you'd have to back Peter Stöger's side.

Prediction: Borussia Dortmund 3-1 SC Freiburg