Bundesliga Preview: Bayern Munich v Freiburg

Freiburg will be hope to repeat their heroics against Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich from earlier this season when they meet again on Saturday.

Pep Guardiola’s men have been in imperious form this season, dropping points in just two of their 20 league matches, but one of those occasions came at Freiburg in August and the strugglers will be hoping to upset the form books for a second time.

It is a mammoth ask of a Freiburg side that have won just four times all season, against a Munich team that has gone a record 45 matches without defeat in the league, a run that stretches back to a 2-1 reverse to Bayer Leverkusen in October 2012.

Bayern come into the game on the back of 12 consecutive league victories, and currently hold a dominant 13-point advantage at the top from nearest challengers Leverkusen.

Guardiola’s side boast the best attack in the division, with 53 goals to their name, the meanest defence – which has conceded just nine times this season – and they enjoy a 100 per cent record on home soil in the league this term.

Freiburg, by contrast, have just two away wins so far this year, and have lost their last three on the road without scoring a goal.

Bayern’s Bastian Schweinsteiger, absent since November with an ankle injury, returned in Wednesday’s 5-0 thrashing of Hamburg in the DFB-Pokal.

The Germany international could in contention for more involvement as Bayern approach the business end of the season, in which they remain in with a chance of defending the treble they claimed last year.

“It’s really good to be back in the side and to get such a great reception,” he said.

“There are some crucial games coming up where it may turn on minor things. Obviously, we’re very confident at the moment.

“We know what we can do and what level of performance we’re capable of producing. But now we’ve got to show it on the pitch.”

Though Bayern have Schweinsteiger available to them, Mario Mandzukic is suspended and Franck Ribery is sidelined after surgery on a buttock injury.