Freiburg vs. Darmstadt DFB-Pokal preview: Team news and predicted lineups

Team news, predicted lineups and key insights ahead of Wednesday’s DFB-Pokal round of 16 clash between Freiburg and Darmstadt.

Freiburg welcome Darmstadt to Europa-Park Stadion on Wednesday as they search for a place in the quarter finals of the DFB-Pokal. 

Julian Schuster’s side comfortably dispatched Mainz at the weekend, with goals from Lukas Kübler, Vincenzo Grifo, Johan Manzambi and Patrick Osterhage sealing a 4-0 win on home soil, lifting them to eighth in the Bundesliga standings. 

Second division Darmstadt are in search of an upset as they make the trip to South Baden to face European-level opposition in Freiburg, and they will do so in high spirits after a run of just one loss in their last five away matches. 

The Lilies currently sit fifth in the 2. Bundesliga, and are well within the race for promotion, with Elversberg sitting two points ahead in third after the two sides played out a draw in Saarland on Sunday. 

Freiburg will continue to be without Cyriaque Irie and Eren Dinkci, while Jordy Makengo also deals with a muscle issue. 

Daniel-Kofi Kyereh is set to return to the fold later this month after a long battle with injury. 

Fraser Hornby will likely miss the clash for Darmstadt, alongside right-back Sergio Lopez, who is also a doubt after being forced off against Elversberg on Sunday. 

Predicted lineups 

Freiburg – 4-2-3-1: Atubolu – Treu, Ginter, Lienhart, Günter – Eggestein, Osterhage – Beste, Manzambi, Grifo – Höler 

Darmstadt – 3-4-1-2: Schuhen – Pfeiffer, Vukotic, Maglica – Bader, Klefisch, Akiyama, Nürnberger – Richter, Corredor – Lidberg