Trabzonspor chasing an eighth straight win: Trabzonspor vs Freiburg prediction
On November 5, Trabzonspor will host Freiburg in the third round of the Conference League league phase. The Turkish club have won both of their opening matches and head into the fixture on a seven-game winning streak in all competitions. The Germans, by contrast, made an inconsistent start to their European campaign but managed to improve their results ahead of the trip to Turkey.
Trabzonspor: seven straight wins and a strong home record
Thomas Reis’s side have hit an excellent run of form, winning their last seven matches in all competitions. In the Conference League, the Turkish team first defeated KuPS 4-2 before comfortably seeing off Hearts 2-0. Trabzonspor have also been highly prolific in the domestic league, beating Beşiktaş 2-0, Çaykur Rizespor 4-3 and Gaziantep 2-0. At home, the team have won six matches in a row and will be looking to extend that impressive run.
However, the hosts are dealing with a number of personnel issues ahead of the match. Aral Şimşir, Frankulino, Arseniy Batagov, Ruslan Malinovskyi and Okay Yokuşlu are all expected to miss out. Sidney Lopes Cabral is suspended after being sent off against Hearts, while Cihan Çanak and Onuralp Çevikkan remain doubts. The good news is that Paul Onuachu has returned and already featured against Gaziantep following his injury.
Freiburg: a return to winning ways and away-day problems
Julian Schuster’s German side began their Conference League campaign with a 3-2 win over Jablonec but then suffered a heavy 3-0 defeat to Monaco. Their poor run continued in the Bundesliga, where Freiburg lost 1-2 to Bayer Leverkusen and 1-3 to Bayern Munich. However, their latest results point to an upturn in form: a 3-2 victory over Wolfsburg in the German Cup and a 2-1 win against Augsburg have helped the team regain confidence.
The visitors’ main concern is their record in European away matches, having lost four of their last five. In addition, Philipp Treu and Florent Muslija will miss the game through injury. Schuster can still call upon experienced defenders Matthias Ginter and Philipp Lienhart, while Vincenzo Grifo, Yuito Suzuki and Jan-Niklas Beste can provide creativity. Igor Matanović is expected to lead the line after scoring in each of his last two appearances.
Match facts and head-to-head record
- Trabzonspor have won their last seven matches in all competitions
- Freiburg have lost four of their last five European away matches
- The teams will meet for the first time in an official match
Will the Turkish side extend their winning streak? Trabzonspor vs Freiburg prediction
Trabzonspor come into the match in outstanding form and have a significant home advantage. The Turkish side are playing with confidence in attack, scoring regularly and showing they can get results even in difficult fixtures.
Freiburg have enough experience and quality to make this a competitive encounter, but their poor away record in Europe raises doubts. The hosts look like the stronger option, although keeping a clean sheet will be far from easy.
