Two players that will particularly be looking forward to this Sunday’s game in Augsburg will be Vincenzo Grifo and Philipp Lienhart. The Italy international hasn’t scored more goals against any other team in the Bundesliga (7), while three of the Austrian’s 12 Bundesliga goals have come against FCA.

SC’s opponents this weekend will also have someone in their squad who is eager for matchday 24 to get underway. Alexis Claude-Maurice scored a hat-trick in last weekend’s 3-0 victory in Mönchengladbach, netting his three goals all within a 15-minute period. It was also the first ‘flawless’ hat-trick – meaning three goals coming uninterrupted in one half – by an Augsburg player in the top flight.

Talking of hat-tricks: Alfred Finnbogason famously scored one for FC Augsburg at the WWK-Arena back in the 2017/18 season. With SC leading 3-1 going into injury time, the Icelandic striker scored twice in as many minutes to rescue a point for the hosts late on. Nils Petersen (2) and Christian Günter got Freiburg’s goals on that cold December day, while Tim Kleindienst set all three of them up.

Two solid defences

Both SC and FCA have been solid at the back recently, meaning it’s unlikely we’ll see another six-goal thriller on Sunday. “It’s pretty likely that both teams will defend well and with passion,” said Julian Schuster. Regardless of how many goals they score, a Freiburg win would equal the club record run of five straight Bundesliga victories from the 2020/21 season.

After a run of three straight 1-0 victories, Freiburg’s last game saw them hammer SV Werder Bremen 5-0 at home in front of 34,000 fans. When asked about the club’s recent form, Schuster commented: “I don’t think there has been a huge difference in how we’ve played compared to the previous matches. Our defence has been really promising. We’ve scored goals at the right times and followed our plan to the letter, which has been key.”

Max Rosenfelder will not be able to feature in Augsburg this weekend. “Several guys have been ill, then returned and had a setback. We have to be careful, which is why Max is still only training on his own,” explained Schuster. Florent Muslija has recovered from an ankle problem and will play for the reserves in Freiberg this Saturday.

Around 2,000 SC fans will be in attendance in Augsburg. Following defeats to VfB Stuttgart, Eintracht Frankfurt and FC Bayern, not many of them would have expected to be heading to Augsburg in fourth place at the start of the matchday. “I wouldn’t say our form has been as up and down as it seems,” said Schuster. “The table is really tight. It’s nice to be in this position right now but nothing more than that. We are realistic and know what we’re capable of.”

Photo: SC Freiburg