Ahead of Werder Bremen’s visit this weekend, the statistics offer plenty of encouragement from Freiburg’s perspective. SC have suffered just one home defeat this season, an unlucky loss to FC Augsburg on the opening matchday. Since then, they have gone 13 matches without defeat in all competitions at the Europa-Park Stadion. “We feel very comfortable at home, we have familiar routines and a stadium where a great atmosphere can develop,” said Julian Schuster when asked about the impressive run.

Recent results also favour Saturday’s hosts. Freiburg have won six of their last seven meetings with Werder, scoring 15 goals and conceding just four. SC also came out on top in the reverse fixture, securing a 3-0 away win.

Of course, statistics do not win matches. After late defeats against Lille and Stuttgart, the SC coaching staff have instead taken encouragement from last weekend’s strong performance in the Baden-Württemberg derby. “We had chances to take the lead. You obviously can’t completely keep Stuttgart away from your goal, but I have to compliment my team on how they defended,” Schuster stated.

With a full week of training behind them, Freiburg now want to build on their most recent away display against Werder, who hired Daniel Thioune as their new head coach during the week. “They’ll try to carry on with things that have worked so far, but also look to bring in new ideas quickly,” Schuster suggested, looking ahead to the challenge posed by the side currently lying 15th in the table.

There are no changes on the injury front. Lukas Kübler and Philipp Lienhart remain unavailable. Junior Adamu, who joined Celtic on loan shortly before the transfer deadline, is also not an option for the Freiburg coach.

Photo: SC Freiburg