Will the Black Forest remain at the top for longer?
With a 3-2 away win in Leverkusen, SC Freiburg somewhat surprisingly climbed to first place in the table on matchday five of the 2022/23 season. For the first time since the first matchday of the 2000/01 season, the Black Forest team leads the Bundesliga. Now, the team from the Lower Rhine region will be a kind of favourite opponent at the Europa-Park-Stadion. The SCF have only lost one of their last 20 Bundesliga home games against the Foals.
While it is likely that at least one, if not two or three teams will have temporarily moved past Sport-Club in the table by the time Sunday night’s game kicks off. With a home win, the Streich eleven could still stay on top. In the run-up to the encounter between Freiburg and Gladbach, the odds are swinging in favour of the home side.
However, it should be noted that the Foals have been very strong away from home recently. Borussia have not lost any of their last six away games in the Bundesliga. Accordingly, it is quite risky to play Freiburg vs. Gladbach tip 1 and bet on the defence of the league lead.
Instead, we see a lot of value in betting on the Black Forest team scoring the first goal. In four of the five league games so far, the SCF have always managed to score the opening goal.
Freiburg – Statistics & current form
SC Freiburg already played big in the 2021/22 season. Not only were the Black Forest side on course for the Champions League for long periods, but they also reached the final of the DFB Pokal.
In the end, they missed out on the big title as well as the top division. As sixth in the table, Sport-Club reached the Europa League for the first time in nine years. On Thursday evening, the Black Forest side struggled to come back from an early 2-0 lead to win 2-1 at home against Qarabag Agdam and got off to a successful start with a three-goal win.
The best Freiburg start to a season ever
Meanwhile, Christian Streich’s team got off to an outstanding start in the Bundesliga. On the second matchday, despite leading 1:0, they suffered a 1:3 home defeat against Borussia Dortmund. However, the Sport-Club has won all of its other four league games.
Because the team from Breisgau has already gone three games without conceding a goal and has a better goal difference than BVB, who are level on points, Freiburg’s best ever start to the season was crowned last weekend with the top spot in the table.
Only lost one of the last 20 Bundesliga home games against Gladbach
In his usual manner, long-time coach Christian Streich played down the league lead as a snapshot. In fact, the high flight of the Baden-Württemberger did not come out of the blue with a view to the previous results.
All the better, then, are the chances of prolonging this run of success with a home win against a declared favourite opponent. SCF have only lost one of their last 20 home games against the Foals in the Bundesliga. The odds on Freiburg beating Gladbach are accordingly good, with the Black Forest side able to record the next victory.
Predicted line-up of Freiburg:
Flekken – Günter – Lienhart – Ginter – Kübler – Höfler – Eggestein – Grifo – Jeong – Doan – Gregoritsch
Last matches played by Freiburg:
Europa League Grp. G
09/09/2022 – SC Freiburg 2 – 1 Qarabag FK
Bundesliga
03/09/2022 – Bayer Leverkusen 2 – 3 SC Freiburg
27/08/2022 – SC Freiburg 1 – 0 VfL Bochum
20/08/2022 – VfB Stuttgart 0 – 1 SC Freiburg
13/08/2022 – SC Freiburg 1 – 3 Borussia Dortmund
Gladbach – Statistics & current form
While eight Bundesliga teams were in action during the week, Borussia Möchengladbach had to watch the UEFA competitions from the couch. In tenth place in the final table, the team from the Lower Rhine missed out on qualifying for Europe by a wide margin.
Under new coach Daniel Farke, however, the Foals are basically on the right track to change that in a year’s time. After four league games in a row without a defeat, however, they suffered their first setback last Sunday.
The fourth best defence in the Bundesliga
The Gladbach side lost their most recent home match against 1. FSV Mainz 05 with 0:1, whereupon they dropped to ninth place in the table.
Nevertheless, the performance data of the team from the Lower Rhine is still basically respectable.
The Foals have conceded just five goals in five league games, giving them the fourth-best defence in the Bundesliga. Against Freiburg, who have scored every time in their last twelve league games, that defensive strength is exactly what they will need.
Four of the seven league goals have come from standards
There is still some room for improvement when it comes to taking chances. The Foals have only scored seven times in the Bundesliga so far, with four of those seven goals coming from set pieces. It will be all the more difficult to score against a concentrated Black Forest defence.
Accordingly, Daniel Farke’s side, who will still be without Elvedi and Plea (both injured) as well as Itakura (red suspension), will travel to the German southwest as underdogs.
Predicted line-up of Gladbach:
Sommer – Netz – Bensebaini – Friedrich – Scally – Koné – Kramer – Stindl – Neuhaus – Hofmann – Thuram
Last matches played by Gladbach:
Bundesliga
04/09/2022 – Gladbach 0 – 1 Mainz 05
27/08/2022 – Bayern Munich 1 – 1 Gladbach
20/08/2022 – Gladbach 1 – 0 Hertha BSC
13/08/2022 – Schalke 04 2 – 2 Gladbach
06/08/2022 – Gladbach 3 – 1 Hoffenheim
Freiburg – Gladbach Direct comparison / H2H balance
Head to head: 15 – 14 – 13
There have been a total of 42 meetings between the two teams so far and especially because of Freiburg’s strong home record against the Foals, the Sport-Club also leads the direct comparison with a total of 15 victories. The last encounter in Breisgau, meanwhile, produced a spectacular 3-3 draw in April this year.
Freiburg – Gladbach Tip
In view of the Black Forest side’s brilliant start to the season, which saw them top the table for at least six days, the prediction for Freiburg against Gladbach goes in favour of the home side. However, it won’t be easy for the players from Breisgau against the strong Foals. Gladbach have not lost any of their last six Bundesliga away games this season. Moreover, the team from the Lower Rhine currently has the fourth-best defence in the league.
Because the Baden-Württemberger have always scored the opening goal in four of their five league games so far, we are therefore switching to betting on the Black Forest side to score first in this home game as well.
