Friday's Bundesliga Preview: Matchday Ten – Bayern Munich v Freiburg

Bayern Munich’s midweek DFB Pokal win aganist Werder Bremen will give them a much-needed kick of confidence for this weekend’s tie against Freiburg, who were shockingly knocked out of the Pokal in midweek against Energie Cottbus. Louis van Gaal’s side need to pick up all possible points, because they already find themselves twelve points behind leaders Mainz. Freiburg will provide tough opposition for their Bavarian counterparts, if nothing else. I can’t see an upset in the works here!

Bayern Munich will be without the services of Miroslav Klose and Mark van Bommel, which means Mario Gomez and Andreas Ottl will likely deputise for the injured duo. Bayern are still obviously without Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben, and they’ve had a really flat start to the season because of the gaps left in the side by the two wingers. While Toni Kroos and Thomas Mueller are great young players, they don’t really play the same roles in the side that Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery do when they’re in the team. With Robben and Ribery still out, the young duo will be given a chance to shine once more. Louis van Gaal has declared that the chase to top spot begins this Friday against Freiburg, so three points is once again a must for the reigning champions.

Butt – Lahm, Tymoschuk, Badstuber, Pranjic – Ottl, Schweinsteiger – Altintop, Kroos, Mueller – Gomez

For Freiburg, the pressure is off here. Away to Bayern Munich is not a game they would have pencilled any points next to when the fixture list was announced at the start of the season. Anything at the Allianz Arena will be a bonus, especially after Freiburg’s shock loss to Energie Cottbus in midweek. Papiss Cisse will be the dangerman for Freiburg once again, and it’ll be interesting to see if his pace and technical ability will be of great trouble or not to Bayern’s center-halves.

Catch it on GolTV!