Something has to give when struggling Freiburg and Cologne meet in a relegation six-pointer at the Schwarzwald-Stadion on Saturday (kick-off 03:30 PM CEST/ 01:30 PM GMT/ 09:30 AM EST).
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Freiburg have hit a run of poor form at the wrong time, and their 1-0 defeat at Hamburg last time out saw them drop into the relegation play-off place. Christian Streich’s side have picked up only one point and scored only one goal in their last seven matches, and they must make do without centre-back Caglar Söyüncü following his red card last week. The visit of Cologne will bring back good memories, however. In December, Freiburg came back from three goals down to win the away fixture 4-3.
Basement club Cologne are very much in the last-chance saloon, despite their spirited fightback in a 2-2 draw at home to Schalke last week. Christian Clemens and Simon Zoller returned to training on Wednesday to boost the Billy Goats’ options, but Leonardo Bittencourt, Dominique Heintz and Dominic Maroh all missed some sessions during the week. With no choice left but to attack, Jhon Cordoba, Yuya Osako or Claudio Pizarro could earn a recall to partner top goalscorer Simon Terodde.
Watch: Find out why Jonas Hector is staying at Cologne next season.
Probable line-ups
Freiburg: Schwolow – Kübler, Lienhart, Gulde, Günter (c) – Stenzel, Koch, Höfler, Höler – Petersen, Haberer
Absentees: Söyüncü (suspended), Niedermeier and Ignjovski (not considered), Stanko (knee), Abrashi (cruciate ligament), Ravet (thigh), Niederlechner (knee)
Coach: Christian Streich
Cologne: Horn – Klünter, Mere, Heintz, Hector (c) – Risse, Höger, Koziello, Bittencourt – Terodde, Cordoba
Absentees: Queiros (not considered), Lehmann (arm), Guirassy (ankle)
Coach: Stefan Ruthenbeck
Match stats
Source: bundesliga.com