Freiburg vs. Borussia Dortmund: Team News, Preview, Live Stream and TV Info

Borussia Dortmund's horrendous season continues on Saturday when they make the short trip south to the black forests of Freiburg, where they will face a Christian Streich side in as much peril as themselves. 

The Bundesliga's bottom team will face off with a Freiburg side that sit just three positions and two points above them in the league table in what will undoubtedly be labelled a "six-pointer" to those who care for such nonsense. 

In truth this will be the first game of 2015 that Jurgen Klopp is truly hopeful of picking up all three points in. Bayer Leverkusen were always going to be a tricky opponent and Augsburg have been one of the toughest teams in the German top division this season, but in the "Brazilians of Breisgau" Dortmund have a genuine opportunity of picking up some points and making some much-needed progress. 

Date: Saturday, February 7

Time: 2:30 p.m. GMT/9:30 a.m. ET

Venue: Dreisamstadion, Freiburg

TV Info: Not available (U.K. only)/Not available (U.S. only)

Live Stream: Not available (U.K. only)/ Not available (U.S. only)

Form guide

Freiburg	Borussia Dortmund
Hamburg - draw	Hertha Berlin - loss
Bayern Munich - loss	Wolfsburg - draw
Hannover - draw	Werder Bremen - loss
Eintracht Frankfurt - win	Bayer Leverkusen - loss
Moenchengladbach - loss	Augbusrg - loss

Predicted Lineup

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As we can see from the formation above, Klopp will shuffle his defence around to accommodate the injury to Kevin Grosskreutz by bringing in Neven Subotic at centre-back, while moving Sokratis Papastathopoulos out to right-back. The Greek international has played the role a number of times and shouldn't find much trouble against Freiburg's left flank.

Elsewhere we're likely to see the Dortmund manager stick with the same players in midfield and attack, with the current crop still sitting above the likes of Shinji Kagawa and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, despite recent results.

Freiburg will hope to pick themselves up from the loss to Gladbach with Streich playing a back-line of Christian Gunter, Immanuel Hohn, Marc Torrejon and Oliver Sorg. In midfield we should see Felix Klaus and Jonathan Schmid on either wing with Mike Frantz and Vladimir Darida while Nils Peterson plays up front with Mats Moller Daehli. 

Players to Watch

Although Dortmund have continued to struggle when it comes to putting the ball in the back of the net, logic would dictate that opponents such as Freiburg may offer an easier route to goal than their previous two opponents in 2015. As such the forward line will be vital in this game and particularly new signing Kevin Kampl, who has looked so sharp and keen compared to his colleagues up front.

Frank Augstein/Associated Press

Along with a horrid attacking record, Dortmund have truly looked lost at times at the back, and in a cunning central midfielder such as Vladimir Darida, Freiburg could really take advantage of the low morale in front of Roman Weidenfeller's goal. The Czech international already has seven goals to his name this season and should be confident of adding to his tally on Saturday. 

Key Battles

Vladimir Darida vs. Ilkay Gundogan

As we've already mentioned, Darida has a certain tendency to find himself high up the field causing trouble in the opposition box, yet so too does his opposite number on Saturday in the form of Ilkay Gundogan. Both box-to-box midfielders will have every intention of bombing forward whenever they can but will know their restrictions in terms of ensuring they don't leave their defenses exposed.

Jonathan Schmid vs Sokratis Papastathopoulos

As previously noted, the unfortunate injury to Grosskreutz will undoubtedly lead to Sokratis reprising his role at right-back for the away trip to Freiburg. 

This should offer an interesting battle with defensive winger Jonathan Schmid, who has a tendency to run the wing from one end of the pitch to the other over the course of the game. The French player enjoys defending and attacking in equal measure and will surely fancy his chances against a defender who is rather notorious for his bombarding runs forward. Equally, Sokratis may well prove too much for the winger and find himself in plenty of space and time to attack a vulnerable Freiburg back line. 

Odds (per Odds checker)

Freiburg: 4/1

Draw: 3/1

Dortmund:8/13