RB Leipzig will have to make do without key midfielder Naby Keita as they look to consolidate second spot in their tricky trip to Freiburg on Saturday afternoon (kick-off 15:30 CET/14:30 GMT).
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Freiburg come into this game on the back of a six-game unbeaten streak in the league after a point away to Eintracht Frankfurt in a 1-1 draw on Matchday 18. Disciplined, hard-working and with an iron-clad team spirit, Christian Streich's charges are a tough nut to crack and have lost just once on home turf this term. The Black Forest ensemble are once again without influential trio Philipp Lienhart, Florian Niederlechner and Mike Frantz, so leading scorer and supersub extraordinaire Nils Petersen will start once more.
They will face a Keita-less Leipzig side after the Liverpool-bound midfielder earned a fifth yellow card of the season in the 3-1 win over Schalke last weekend. Coach Ralph Hasenhüttl unexpectedly named strikers Yussuf Poulsen and Timo Werner as substitutes for that game, but given the impact they had off the bench they are likely to return to the starting line-up here. Emil Forsberg and Marcel Halstenberg are the only other players certain to be sidelined for the guests.
Watch: Leipzig came out victorious against Schalke last weekend
Probable line-ups
Freiburg: Schwolow - Koch, Söyüncü, Gulde - Kübler, Abrashi, Haberer, Kapustka, Günter - Petersen, Höler
Absentees: Lienhart (knee ligaments), Ravet (Achilles), Frantz (knee ligaments), Niederlechner (knee)
Coach: Christian Streich
Leipzig: Gulacsi – Laimer, Upamecano, Orban (c), Bernardo – Demme, Kampl - Sabitzer, Augustin - Poulsen, Werner
Absentees: Keita (suspended), Forsberg (stomach muscle), Halstenberg (broken hand)
Coach: Ralph Hasenhüttl
Match stats
Freiburg are unbeaten in six Bundesliga games (W3, D3), the longest current run in the top flight. It is the club's longest streak without defeat for almost six years.Freiburg have only conceded six goals at home, the third-fewest in the league.The Black-Forest side, however, have never taken as much as a point from top-flight encounters with Leipzig.Seven of Freiburg's last nine goals have come from set-pieces; Leipzig have conceded six of their last seven goals from set-pieces.RB have not won away from home in four games (D2, L2), the longest dry spell on the road in their short Bundesliga history.RB striker Werner has scored eight goals in seven games against Freiburg, more than against any other club.
Source: bundesliga.com