SC Freiburg welcomes Hertha BSC to the Stade Europa-Park on Saturday in a game with huge implications in the relegation battle and race for Champions League qualification in the Bundesliga.
The hosts sit in fourth place on 46 points, just one ahead of RB Leipzig and two behind Union Berlin whilst their opponents are in the relegation playoff spot, ahead of Schalke 04 on goal difference and a win can see them move out of the bottom three.
Before the international break, Freiburg drew 1-1 away to FSV Mainz 05 after a Ritsu Doan goal was cancelled out by a 96th-minute equaliser from Karim Onisiwo shared the spoils.
Hertha suffered a defeat to fellow relegation rivals TSG Hoffenheim. Despite TSG being reduced to 10 men, Hertha still fell to a 3-1 defeat and see Hoffenheim leapfrog them.
Reflecting their positions in Bundesliga, the sides are experiencing different runs of form.
Freiburg are unbeaten in their last six, winning three and drawing three. Whilst, Hertha won just one of their last five and one point from their previous three games.
These two met in the capital back in October with the game ending in a 2-2 draw. Despite taking the lead, Freiburg found themselves 2-1 down with 15 minutes to play and rescued a point through Kevin Schade.
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Team News
SC Freiburg
Freiburg have no new injury news so Christian Streich has a close to full squad to pick from on Saturday. The two players definitely ruled out are midfielder Daniel Kyereh and defender Phiipp Lienhart.
Manuel Gulde is starting to find his feet again following a back injury, starting in the last three games and will look to start against Hertha. Some team news that will not effect this Saturday is that veteran striker Nils Petersen announced that he will be retiring at the end of this season.
He currently sits on 198 appearances and will look to break the 200 mark in the remaining games of the season.
Hertha BSC
Hertha have a few injuries of their own that leaves squad slightly thin for this weekend. Midfielders Jean-Paul Boetius and Chidera Ejuke are both out injured.
Sandro Schwarz will also be without Rune Jarstein and Kelian Nsona and the biggest miss is Marco Richter. The winger has started the previous 15 games but picked up his fifth booking and will miss the Freiburg game through suspension.
Striker Florian Niederlechner will be available despite missing a charity match over the international break. Marc Kempf was training individually this week and Ivan Sunjic missed training due to personal reasons and is unknown whether he will be available.
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Likely Lineups
SC Freiburg
Flekken; Kubler, Ginter, Gulde; Sildillia, Eggestein, Hofler, Gunter; Doan, Gregoritsch, Grifo
Hertha BSC
Christensen; Rogel, Uremovic, Plattenhardt; Pekarik, Tousart, Cigerci, Serdar, Mittelstadt; Lukebakio, Jovetic
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Key Players
SC Freiburg - Vincenzo Grifo
When it comes to key players for Freiburg there is one Italian playmaker that comes to mind: Vincenzo Grifo
He is one of the best talents in the league and his league form earned him a call-up to the Italy side where he recently came off the bench in a 2-0 win over Malta.
The stats back up the eye test with Grifo who has shown his class in the Bundesliga for a number of years now.
He is the joint-second top scorer in the Bundesliga with 12 goals, adding four assists to go along with it which is a very impressive return from the winger.
Starting out on the left wing, Grifo enjoys driving inside on his stronger right foot to get himself in dangerous positions and allow wing-back Christian Gunter to attack down the left-hand side.
Keep an eye out for number 32 this weekend as he is a technician and is what makes Freiburg tick as they aim to stay in the Champions League places.
Hertha BSC - Dodi Lukebakio
Belgian Dodi Lukebakio has been a bright spark in an overall dismal season so far for the side from the capital.
He has 10 goals to his name and is integral to any success that they have in order to remain in the Bundesliga.
Similarly to Grifo, Lukebakio likes to start out wide and cut inside on his stronger foot to get a shot off or create for others.
The winger started in Belgium's 3-2 win over Germany and 3-0 win over Sweden during the international break. If Hertha are to get anything from this game, Lukebakio needs to be at his best.
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Match Details
Where is the game being played?
Hertha will make the long trip south to face Freiburg at the Stade Europa-Park.
What time is kick-off?
The game will kick-off at 14:30 BST on Saturday.
How can I watch?
The game will not be streamed live to UK viewers but highlights will be uploaded to the Bundesliga YouTube channel shortly after the game has finished.