SC Freiburg faces Mainz on August 17, 2019, at the Schwarzwald Stadion in Bundesliga 1 action.
SC Freiburg
SC Freiburg was founded in 1904 and have played in the Bundesliga 1 since being as promoted as the Bundesliga 2 champions in 2016. They have alternated between the first and second divisions of German football hence the club’s fans chant: “We go down, we go up, we go into the UEFA Cup”. They have won the Bundesliga 2 title four times, the Oberliga Baden-Wurttemberg in 1998, Amateurliga Sudbaden three times and the Verbandsliga Subadaen in 1998. They also won the South Baden Cup in 1975, 1978 and 2991while finishing as runners-up in 2005. Last season, SC Freiburg finished 13th in the Bundesliga 1 final table. They are the soccer betting underdogs against Mainz 05
Here are the players for the team as of July 20, 2019:
1 GK Alexander Schwolow, 3 DF Philipp Lienhart, 4 DF Nico Schlotterback, 5 DF Manuel Gulde, 6 MF Amir Abrashi, 7 DF Jonathan Schmid, 8 MF Mike Frantz (captain), 9 FW Lucas Holer, 11 FW Luca Waldschmidt, 13 MF Marco Terrazzino, 14 MF Patrick Kammerbauer, 16 MF Yoric Ravet, 17 DF Lukas Kubler, 18 FW Nils Peterson (3rd captain) 19 MF Janik, Haberer, 20 MF Jerome Gondorf, 21 MF Brandon Borrello, 22 MF Roland Sallai, 23 DF Dominique Heintz, 24 DF Gian-Luca Itter, 25 DF Robin Koch, 26 GK Mark Flekken, 27 MF Nicolas Holder, 28 MF Kwon Chang-hoon, 29 FW Jeong Woo-Yeong, 30 DF Christian Gunter (vice-captain), 34 FW Tim Kleindienst, 38 MF Florian Kath, 39 DF Fabian Rudlin, 40 GK Niclas Thiede
Mainz 05
FSV Mainz 05 was founded in 1905 and have played in the top tier of the German football system in the last decade beginning the 2009/10 season. The finished 5th in Bundesliga 2 during the 2010/11 season, their best finish in the top tier division, but have not placed higher than 6th since then. They were 12th in the final Bundesliga 1 table last season. FSV Mainz 05 have won the South West Cup three times and were DFB-Pokal semifinalists in 2009.
These are the players for Mainz 05 as of August 8, 2019:
1 GK Florian Muller, 2 DF Ronael Pierre-Gabriel, 3 DF Aaron Martin, 4 DF Jerry St. Juste, 5 MF Jean-Paul Boetius, 6 MF Danny Latza, 7 MF Robin Quaison, 8 MF Levin Oztunali, 9 FW Jean-Philippe Mateta, 10 MF Alexandru Maxim, 11 FW Ji Dong-Won, 14 MF Pierre Kunde, 16 DF Stefan Bell (captain), 17 DF Jonathan Meier, 18 DF Daniel Brosinski, 19 DF Moussa Niakhate, 20 MF Edimilson Fernandes, 21 FW Karim Onisiwo, 22 FW Taiwo Awoniyi (on loan from Liverpool), 23 DF Phillipp Mwene, 27 GK Robin Zentner, 29 FW Jonathan Burkardt, 30 FW Cyrill Akono, 31 DF Ahment Gurleyen, 33 GK Omer Hanin, 34 MF Bot Baku, 35 MF Leandro Barreiro, 37 GK Finn Dahmen, 42 DF Alexander Hack
Who Wins?
Freiburg is 2-3-5 SU in their last 10 games played and they are 2-2-1 SU in their last five home games played. Mainz 05 is 4-1-5 SU in their last 10 games played and they are 1-0-4 SU in their last five games played on the road. Head to head, the Mainz 05 is 7-1-2 SU in their last 10 matches played against Freiburg. M05 has also defeated Freiburg in their last three meetings.
Mainz 05 lost their star player Jean-Phillipp Gbamin to Everton but they still have a young and talented squad on hand. Aside from Gbamin, the likes of Anthony Ujah, Giulio Donati, Gaetan Bussmann, and Gerrit Holtmann have also left. But Mainz signed seven players during the summer and did so at a very reasonable cost. The average age of these young players is 21.86 years old, making the squad really very young but also full of potential.
Schwarz’s team looks focuses on vertical passing on offense and are very flexible when it comes to defense. With their ability to adjust to whatever the opposition gives them, this team has the capability to get possession in many ways. It’s interesting to see how this team plays next season. Replacing Gbamin won’t be easy but if they execute Schwarz’s gameplan well, beating Freiburg won’t be a problem. Mainz 05 has dominated Freiburg in recent memory. I don’t see why it won’t be any different here. Prediction: Mainz 05