Freiburg vs Union Berlin: Goals Flow One Way on Sunday
Matchweek 9 pits a free-scoring Freiburg against a Union side struggling badly for goals and bodies
Y. Suzuki has three goals in two Bundesliga appearances. That is not a typo. The SC Freiburg midfielder sits alongside L. Díaz and E. Demirović as one of the division's most dangerous players this season, and on Sunday he gets to test himself against an FC Union Berlin side that has conceded 12 goals in their last six matches while scoring just four. For anyone who follows the Bundesliga closely, this matchup looks painfully one-sided before a ball is kicked.
Freiburg's last six reads W, D, W, L, L, W, with 13 goals scored and 9 conceded — including a sharp 2-1 win away at FC Augsburg and a 1-3 loss at home to FC Bayern München that tells you they can be opened up but are more than capable of hurting teams too. The concern for Freiburg is what they're missing going into this one. J. Beste, D. Scherhant, J. Makengo, P. Treu and P. Osterhage are all unavailable, which strips a fair amount of width and depth from their usual setup. I. Matanović, with one goal and one assist in three appearances, will likely shoulder more of the attacking burden alongside Suzuki. M. Ginter has also been quietly important, contributing an assist and six key passes from centre-back across just three games — he's the kind of player whose influence doesn't always show up in fantasy football metrics but matters enormously on the pitch.
Union Berlin, let's be honest, are in a difficult place. One win, three draws and two defeats across their last six, with that grim 4-12 goals record. Their most recent results — a 1-1 draw with Köln, a 1-1 draw with Augsburg, a 0-0 against Borussia Dortmund — suggest a side grinding out points rather than playing with any confidence. The clean sheet against Dortmund in a champions league-calibre fixture shows defensive resolve at least exists, but the injury list ahead of Sunday is brutal. S. Nsoki and Andrik Markgraf are both out at centre-back, with the latter suffering a cruciate ligament tear. R. Skov misses out with a knock. A. Ilić is absent with food poisoning. That leaves a defensive unit already leaking goals at the mercy of one of the Bundesliga's sharpest attacks right now. T. Skarke has shown what he can do with two goals in just 43 minutes of action this season, but Union need goals from somewhere — and creating them against a Freiburg side with 16 points and a goal difference of plus eight is a different challenge entirely compared to drawing with mid-table sides.
The gap in attacking output between these squads is the decisive factor here. Freiburg have scored 18 in eight matches; Union have managed seven while conceding 19. J. Juranović has eight key passes from centre-back in two appearances, which is a curious stat for a defender and hints at how much Union rely on their backline to build play when the midfield is not clicking. Jeong Woo-Yeong has three key passes from the CAM position without a goal or assist to show for it yet. There is potential in that Union squad, but Sunday afternoon is not the time for potential to suddenly arrive. Freiburg's attack, even without some of their regular starters, has too many weapons for a defence missing two of its centre-backs. Freiburg win this one comfortably.
| Club | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FC Bayern München | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 19 | 18 |
| 2 | Borussia Dortmund | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 18 |
| 3 | SC Freiburg | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 16 |
| 4 | RB Leipzig | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 15 |
| 5 | Werder Bremen | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 15 |
| 14 | FC Köln | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | -3 | 9 |
| 15 | Paderborn | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | -3 | 9 |
| 16 | FC Union Berlin | 8 | 1 | 4 | 3 | -12 | 7 |
| 17 | Schalke 04 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -5 | 6 |
| 18 | Borussia Mönchengladbach | 9 | 1 | 1 | 7 | -13 | 4 |
