Freiburg haven’t kept a clean sheet in nine matches, conceding 12 goals in their previous six games.
Ollie Watkins has been in sensational form since March, the striker backed to fire Aston Villa to victory in the Europa League final.
HTH
This will be the first match between Freiburg and Aston Villa.
Freiburg Finding it Hard to Keep Clean Sheets
Freiburg have won two of their last seven games, starting with a 2-1 extra time defeat to Stuttgart in the German Cup semi-finals.
The Black Forest club lost 2-1 at Braga in the Europa League semi-final first leg. They took advantage of an early red card to the Portuguese club in the second leg, Lukas Kübler scoring twice in a 3-1 home win.
Julian Schuster’s side returned to the Bundesliga with a deserved 3-2 defeat at Hamburg where Igor Matanovic scored twice. Freiburg are coming off a 4-1 win against Leipzig which secured seventh spot on the table.
Aston Villa Thriving Under Unai Emery
Aston Villa recently lost three straight matches, including a 1-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest in the Europa League semi-final first leg. Ollie Watkins opened the scoring in a dominant 4-0 second leg victory in Birmingham.
Watkins scored again as Unai Emery’s side earned a 2-2 draw at Burnley. The striker bagged another two goals in a 4-2 win against Liverpool on Friday, the Villains taking fourth spot in the Premier League with one game remaining.
Predicted Lineups & Team News
Freiburg (4-2-3-1) Noah Atubolu; Lukas Kübler, Matthias Ginter, Philipp Lienhart, Jordy Makengo; Maximilian Eggestein, Nicolas Höfler; Niklas Beste, Johan Manzambi, Vincenzo Grifo; Igor Matanovic
Patrick Osterhage is recovering from knee surgery and Yuito Suzuki has a collarbone fracture. Max Rosenfelder has a hamstring injury and hasn’t played since February.
Aston Villa (4-2-3-1) Emiliano Martinez; Matty Cash, Ezri Konsa, Pau Torres, Lucas Digne; Victor Lindelöf, Youri Tielemans; John McGinn, Morgan Rogers, Emiliano Buendía; Ollie Watkins
Boubacar Kamara and Amadou Onana are out for the English club. Victor Lindelöf could continue in the holding midfield role ahead of Lamare Bogarde and Douglas Luiz.