1.FC Nürnberg - SC Freiburg

The second half of the Season began with Round 18 this Friday. If we take a look back to begin of the Season we saw an interesting an excellent macht between Freiburg and Nürnberg which Freiburg could win 6-3. It was a great match above all from Freiburg with all their offensive power they showed in this game but also Nürnberg had a lot of problems in defense to this time. Some month later they are almost even because Freiburg was always on top 3 while Nürnberg fight hard to close the gap and they are now really close to the top 3. With a win today they have 30 Points and Freiburg with 35 is only 5 Points ahead. Also the promotion race for Nürnberg can be open very bigly. The home factor can play a big role here too and Nürnberg is unbeaten in all their home starts but against Freiburg they had always some problems if 1.BL or 2.BL.

As mentioned above Nürnberg is in a region they want to be in table and they want more, of course. Coach Weiler has found the right mix and balance in team and his starting lineup. They lost only 1 time since September and this was a big unlucky 2-3 against Leipzig on the road. Also their good run of 3 wins in a row put them back in promotion race but they have to walk on otherwise they lose the contact immediately as the rival Braunschweig has won, the other rival St. Pauli plays on monday.
They want to build on their home fortress with 5-4-0 so far and for this reason Coach Weiler plans no changes and trust the team who could beat Paderborn 2-1 last weekend. And compared to the 3-6 defeat in Freiburg Nürnberg has only 4 players in starting lineup who played at that time there. So it is a different team with much more strength now.

Freiburg got the title "Herbstmeister" and they are on its way back to 1.Bundesliga immediately. Coach Streich and his crew has formed a really great team and they are working very well till now. The only team who could follow them was Freiburg, both are even on top with 35 Points but this match can be a really hard nut today. And just now they miss two important key players with former Nürnberger player Frantz injured and Abrashi suspended. This means they must find the right replacements. Their bench is not so deep that they can choose from a lot but in the past they always find the right solutions.
For Abrashi's place they have with Stanko and Hufnagel two players which can play this part. It may be a decision of Coach Streich who starts. But also some other setting are possible if defender Torrejon plays in central midfield while Hufnagel on the offensive wing for Frantz and in back move Mudjza into the starting lineup. All is possible.