Fortuna Düsseldorf vs. SC Freiburg: DFB-Pokal preview, team news & predicted lineups

Fortuna Düsseldorf and SC Freiburg will lock horns for the first time in nearly six years.

SC Freiburg aim for a place in the DFB-Pokal Round of 16 when they meet out-of-sorts Fortuna Düsseldorf.

Fortuna Düsseldorf

Fortuna Düsseldorf lost three consecutive games for the first time this season following a late defeat to Hertha Berlin. Markus Anfang replaced Daniel Thioune after the 3-2 home loss to Nürnberg, but Düsseldorf are yet to take a point with the new coach.

Düsseldorf were hardly convincing in their first round DFB-Pokal victory over 3. Liga’s newly-promoted side 1.FC Schweinfurt 05 as well. Florent Muslija scored and assisted on his debut to secure a comeback win.

The Kosovan international will face his former club on Wednesday. After his unsuccessful year in Freiburg, the attacking midfielder is back in 2. Bundesliga with the underachievers.

Team News

Alongside fellow summer signing Christian Rasmussen, the 27-year-old will take the responsibility of Düsseldorf’s creativity. Danny Schmidt will hope to keep his place in attack ahead of two more new signings, Cedric Itten and Zan Celar.

SC Freiburg

After three draws in Bundesliga, Julian Schuster’s side lost to Bayer Leverkusen on Sunday. The 2-0 defeat ended an eight-game unbeaten streak in all competitions for Freiburg.

Last season’s fifth-placed team started their European campaign with seven points from three matches, but they have only won twice in the Bundesliga from the first eight. On Saturday, they will hope to improve on their league form when they face Union Berlin away from home.

Before that fixture and a trip to Nice, they will hope to avoid another cup exit by a low-tier opponent. After losing to RB Leipzig in the 2022 final and 2023 semi-final, the last two seasons saw them get eliminated by SC Paderborn and Arminia Bielefeld.

Team News

Schuster has been shuffling his lineups frequently to deal with the extra Europa League fixtures this season. And more changes will be expected in the domestic cup, with players like Max Rosenfelder and Igor Matanovic fancying rare starts.

Predicted Lineups

Düsseldorf: Kastenmeier ©; Zimmermann, Oberdorf, Daland, Kenneth Schmidt; El Azzouzi, Breithaupt; Rasmussen, Muslija, Iyoha; Danny Schmidt

Freiburg: Atubolu; Treu, Rosenfelder, Ginter, Günter ©; Eggestein, Manzambi; Beste, Suzuki, Grifo; Matanovic