Freiburg Form
The defeat to Braga was a third loss in a row for Freiburg, but over this spell the hosts faced serious opponents (they also met Stuttgart and Borussia Dortmund). On Sunday against Wolfsburg (1:1) the home side came from behind late on, looking more dangerous in attack than their motivated opponents (0.94-0.83 in xG, 63-37 in possession and 26-14 in touches in the box). At home the team have scored 13 goals in their last five matches – over this run the only defeat came against Bayern Munich (2:3), who themselves were two goals down by the 80th minute.
Key numbers for Freiburg:
Since the start of December, in 15 home matches the team have recorded 10 wins.
Freiburg have scored 45 goals in the Bundesliga – 29 of them at home.
Freiburg have won all six home Europa League games this season. In four of them they have scored two or more goals.
Potential Freiburg Lineup
(4-2-3-1): Noah Atubolu – Jordi Makengo, Philipp Lienhart, Matthias Ginter, Philipp Treu – Johan Manzambi, Maximilian Eggestein – Vincenzo Grifo, Lucas Holer, Jan-Niklas Beste – Igor Matanovic.
Unavailable: Patrick Osterhage, Max Rosenfelder, Yuito Suzuki (all – injury).
Braga Form
Domestic competition for Braga is noticeably weaker than for Freiburg. On their most recent away trip the visitors lost to Santa Clara (1:2). After their Europa League win last week, the team then failed to beat Estoril at home (1:1), a side who came into the game on a run of five defeats. In that match the visitors created only half as many chances as the mid-table side in crisis (0.41-0.89 in xG).
Key numbers for Braga:
Since 14 February Braga have suffered three defeats in seven away matches. Over this period they have not faced a single opponent from the top three in the Primeira Liga.
Since 8 April Braga have kept clean sheets only twice in eight matches in all competitions.
Braga are missing Martinez and Grillitsch through injury (5+1 between them in the Europa League). Only Horta has scored more for the team (4+5).
Potential Braga Lineup
(3-4-2-1): Lukas Hornicek – Vitor Carvalho, Paulo Oliveira, Gustaf Lagerbielke – Victor Gomez, Demir Ege Tiknaz, Joao Moutinho, Jean-Baptiste Gorby – Ricardo Horta, Rodrigo Zalazar – Pau Victor.
Unavailable: Sikou Niakate, Gabri Martinez, Diogo Rodrigues, Bright Arrey-Mbi, Adrian Barisic, Florian Grillitsch (all – injury).
