Christian Streich's SC Freiburg host Alois Schwartz and SV Sandhausen at the Dreisamstadion this Friday evening with both looking to continue their hot start to the season.

Overview and Form

Freiburg last week bounced back from a miserable home defeat against VfL Bochum, by claiming an important 1-2 away victory at Fortuna Düsseldorf's ESPRIT arena. Although Freiburg spent the majority of the game with their backs to the wall, two goals within nine first-half minutes from Vincenzo Grifo and Nicolas Höfler were enough to see the Südbaden side leave with maximum points. This victory gave them 9 points from their opening 4 matches, leaving them in 3rd position, trailing only St. Pauli and Bochum.

Sandhausen currently lie in 5th position, but are yet to lose this season. Had it not been for a three-point deduction, awarded for violations of licensing conditions, they would sit in 2nd place and two ahead of Freiburg. Sandhausen remained unbeaten this season after a goalless draw at home against 1. FC Heidenheim last weekend. This result came after league wins against SC Paderborn 07, 1.FC Union Berlin and Eintracht Braunschweig. A start unexpected by most, but the Baden-Württemberg outfit will be keen for their unbeaten run to remain intact.

Head-to-head

The two sides have never met competitively before tonight's encounter, but have met three times in pre-season friendlies, the most recent being just over a month ago in the build-up to the 2015/16 campaign; Sandhausen scored late on to secure a 1-2 win.

Team News

Freiburg expect to have Nils Petersen fully fit and available to start the match after only making the bench last weekend against Düsseldorf. Mensur Mujdza should return to the squad from suspension, but Marc Torrejon remains suspended and Tim Kleindienst sidelined through injury.

Sandhausen have had the luxury of naming more or less the same starting line-up in every league game this season. Only last weekend were they forced into making a change. Aziz Bouhaddouz missed last weekend's home draw and was replaced by veteran striker Ranisav Jovanović. He will not be available tonight, and is expected to be sidelined for at least another month.

Key Players

Freiburg and Sandhausen are the two highest scoring 2. Bundesliga sides so far this season, so it's unsurprising that they boast the league's two top goalscorers at this point. Nils Petersen of SC Freiburg has five goals to his name at this stage, and Sandhausen's Andrew Wooten has chalked up four for himself. It has been rumoured that Wooten is subject to interest from Freiburg in recent weeks, and Streich's men will be keen to eradicate the threat which the American possesses.