3 SC Freiburg vs 1 VfB Stuttgart
Freiburg take on VfB Stuttgart in Bundesliga opener.
Freiburg, under new management and fresh signings, kick off their Bundesliga campaign with a highly-anticipated home clash against Stuttgart, who aim to carry forward their impressive run from last season.
SC Freiburg
Freiburg will kick off their Bundesliga campaign with a clash against Stuttgart this Saturday. The Breisgau Brazilians parted ways with Christian Streich, who was the club's head coach for 13 years, and will be under the tutelage of new boss Julian Schuster, who slipped into the managerial seat on July 1.
Looking to push for European places this season, Freiburg strengthened its squad with the arrival of three new players. Right-winger Eren Dinkci joined from Werder Bremen for €5 million, midfielder Patrick Osterhage from Bochum for €4.8 million, and Maximilian Philipp for €1 million from Wolfsburg.
The Breisgau Brazilians resumed competitive football action on a positive note, defeating Osnabrück 4-0 in the first round of the DFB Pokal. Lucas Höler and Vincenzo Grifo scored, with a second-half brace from Junior Adamu.
Freiburg now hopes to extend their five-match unbeaten run on Bundesliga matchday one when they host Stuttgart on Saturday. However, the hosts lost both matches against Die Roten last term for the first time since 2017–18.
Furthermore, they picked up just 22 points at home last season, the third-worst of any side in the league, and their worst return on home turf since relegation in 2014–15. A 4-4-2 formation with Höler and Adamu in attack is expected for Saturday’s fixture.
VfB Stuttgart
Stuttgart will hope to quickly bounce back from the DFB Supercup defeat to Bayer Leverkusen. Die Roten lost via penalties after a 2-2 draw.
After needing a relegation play-off to stay up in 2022–23, Sebastian Hoeneß's side stormed through last season, finishing in second place. It was their best-ever tally across a 34-game season, which helped them secure UEFA Champions League qualification for the first time since 2009–10.
However, the visitors had a difficult summer transfer window where they lost club top scorer Serhou Guirassy to Dortmund, Hiroki Ito, and Waldemar Anton. Hoeneß will be hoping that the addition of Ermedin Demirović from Augsburg, Jamie Leweling from Union Berlin, and other new faces will help steady the ship.
Meanwhile, Die Roten will hope to extend their three-match unbeaten run on matchday one. Their last such defeat came against Freiburg in 2020–21.
Furthermore, the visitors, who equalled their club-record 31 points on the road last term, will be looking to replicate a similar away form this season. A 4-2-3-1 formation with Deniz Undav in attack is expected against Freiburg.
Team form
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Team Comparison
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