Freiburg will be aiming to return to winning ways when they host VfL Bochum in the Bundesliga on Saturday.

The visitors, meanwhile, are yet to win this season, although four draws from seven matches have kept them outside of the automatic relegation places for now.

Match preview

Freiburg, of course, are not a club harbouring any relegation fears having claimed top-six finishes in each of the last two seasons, with Christian Streich set to celebrate 12 years in charge at the end of December.

The 58-year-old has been through it all since his appointment in 2011, including helping Freiburg bounce back at the first attempt when winning the second tier in 2016, as well as guiding them to the club's first ever DFB-Pokal final appearance at the end of the 2021-22 campaign.

While the job that Streich has undertaken has been incredibly impressive, he will likely hold some regrets regarding numerous near misses, most notably losing on penalties to RB Leipzig in that final - despite their opponents having two men sent off - and missing out on Champions League qualification by three points last season.

That has perhaps contributed to them starting slowly this time around, with three wins and three defeats seeing them sit in ninth position ahead of hosting Bochum this weekend, and Streich will be determined to see his players' form and results improve sooner rather than later if they are to avoid a disappointing season.

Bochum, on the other hand, will be targeting avoiding finishing inside the bottom three positions as almost their sole aim for the season, having avoided relegation in each of the last two campaigns.

Die Unabsteigbaren comfortably survived following their promotion in 2021, but it was a much closer call last time around, with Thomas Letsch undoubtedly making a hugely positive impact following his appointment as manager last year to guide them two points clear of danger in the end.

It is likely to be another struggle for them to avoid returning to the second tier, but they have endured a very difficult fixture schedule so far, already facing Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, Eintracht Frankfurt and in-form Stuttgart. Their point away to Leipzig last time out - when they held Marco Rose's side to a goalless draw - clearly represented a massive bonus.

Bochum began last season going eight games without a win, and that unwanted feat would be matched on Saturday should they return from Freiburg without all three points. However, given that they have only won two of 21 away games dating back to the start of last season, Letsch and his players would surely not be too disappointed with another hard-earned draw.

Team News

Freiburg will remain without Christian Gunter and Daniel-Kofi Kyereh due to serious arm and knee injuries respectively, while Michael Gregoritsch and Yannik Keitel are unlikely to recover from muscle strains in time to feature this weekend.

However, Lucas Holer, Ritsu Doan and Matthias Ginter should all shake off recent bouts of illness to be available for selection, while Nicolas Hofler will almost certainly return to the hosts' engine room after missing his side's defeat to Bayern last time out through suspension.

Bochum, meanwhile, will travel without Matus Bero, Michael Esser, Lys Mousset and Mohammed Tolba due to long-term injuries, while Jordi Osei-Tutu and Luis Hartwig are both doubts.

Letsch is unlikely to make any changes to the starting XI which heroically stood firm to claim a point at the Red Bull Arena prior to the international break, although he will be hoping for more offensively from the likes of Takuma Asano and Goncalo Paciencia in attack.

Freiburg possible starting lineup:
Atubolu; Sildillia, Ginter, Lienhart, Kubler; Hofler, Eggestein; Sallai, Doan, Grifo; Holer

VfL Bochum possible starting lineup:
Riemann; Ordets, Schlotterbeck, Bernardo; Gamboa, Osterhage, Losilla, Stoger, Soares; Asano, Paciencia

We say: Freiburg 1-0 VfL Bochum

These two sides have only scored 12 goals combined across their seven league games apiece so far this season, so it is difficult to envisage either goalkeeper enduring particularly busy afternoons.

Bochum showed they are capable of resisting pressure when claiming an unlikely point away to Leipzig in their last match, but we expect Freiburg to edge a narrow encounter and return to winning ways.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Previews by email