Our prediction for this Bundesliga match:
Europa-Park Stadion will host Saturday’s football game between Freiburg and Darmstadt, the two teams who sit in the opposite halves of the table. Freiburg are eager to put an end to their three-match winless run and it seems as if they will not have a better chance than this to get back on course. All Yannik Keitel, Lukas Kubler, Maximilian Philipp, Max Rosenfelder, Christian Gunter, and Daniel-Kofi Kyereh remain on the sidelined with injuries, but Christian Streich still has a number of high-profile players at his disposal.
The Lilywhites, on the other hand, do not seem to be at the top of their game, with the team losing three of their last four league matches, while sharing the spoils with Mainz. Darmstadt are not regarded as good travellers and we do not believe that they are capable of spoiling Freiburg’s party at Europa-Park Stadion. Matej Maglica is back from suspension, but Christoph Klarer is banned for the match, when it comes to the visiting team.
Highlighted Player (Nils Petersen):
Son to a football coach, Andreas, the Freiburg striker Nils Petersen is a physical forward best known for his clinical finishing. A former Bayern Munich striker never got a chance to prove his worth with Bundesliga giants and had to take a long road to prominence which included loan spells at Werder Bremen and Freiburg, before penning a permanent deal with Die Breisaguer in 2015.
Petersen’s impressive exploits during the 2017/18 season helped him get into Germany’s provisional FIFA World Cup 2018 squad although his father Andreas would argue it was his personal influence that helped Joachim Loew write his son’s name in the 23-man list. Namely, Andres Piteresen spotted the Germany manager on a beach in January and decided to ask him about his son’s chances of making it into Germany World Cup squad.
Piteresen was rewarded with his senior Germany cap in an Austria friendly but unfortunately for his father missed out on the final squad for the tournament in Russia.
Highlighted Team (Darmstadt):
SV Darmstadt 98 are a professional football club that compete in the German Bundesliga. Darmstadt were founded in 1898 and the club’s original name was FC Olympia Darmstadt. In 1905 the club changed its’ name to Sportvererien Darmstadt 98. Die Lilien (The Lilies) play their home games at Merck-Stadion am Bollenfalltor and the capacity of the ground is 17,000.
After spending 33 years in lower leagues, Darmstadt competed in the German Bundesliga in the 2015/2016 campaign, with the team finishing the season in 14th place in the standings, just two points clear of the relegation zone. Die Lilien wear blue shirts and white shorts and their main rivals are Kickers Offenbach.
The likes of Bruno Labbadia, Gino Lettieri, Zivojin Juskic, Kosta Runjaic, Lothar Buchmann are some of the most famous coaches that used to be in charge of the team in the past. It has to be noted that Darmstadt have won the Hesse Cup seven times (1966, 1999, 2001, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2013).