Freiburg will hope to lick their Bundesliga wounds with a victory against visitors Wolfsburg on Wednesday at Europa-Park Stadion in the DFB-Pokal's second round.

The hosts suffered a 3-1 defeat against Bayern Munich on Sunday, and after a difficult period of results, they will be keen to bounce back against their 2. Bundesliga opponents.

Match preview

Few teams would have managed to take any points from Bayern, but the fact Freiburg allowed centre-back Dayot Upamecano to open the scoring after he charged out from his own penalty area unmarked will be immensely disappointing.

That result was their third consecutive loss in all competitions, with the club losing 3-0 against Monaco in the Conference League on October 22, as well as 2-1 against Bayer Leverkusen in the league four days prior.

Julian Schuster's side are third in the table with 13 points, and while the head coach could argue that a four-point gap to the top two is not insurmountable, only three points separate them from eighth-placed Elversberg.

Breisgau-Brasilianer managed to beat Dusseldorf 5-1 in the first round of the DFB-Pokal on August 23, and while they were eliminated in the second round in 2023-24, they have reached at least the semi-finals of the competition three times since 2021–22.

Freiburg had a perfect record at Europa-Park Stadion this season prior to their clash with Bayern, winning all five of their contests at the ground before the weekend.

Wolfsburg were in the top flight in 2025-26, only to suffer relegation to the 2. Bundesliga after finishing in the 16th-placed relegation playoff spot and losing against Paderborn in their two-legged tie.

The Wolves are currently fourth in the second tier with 16 points from nine league fixtures, and they are just two points from the third-placed promotion playoff spot.

Tobias Strobl's side are winless in their last four meetings with their hosts, with his team losing three times, though he was not in charge for any of those games.

Wolfsburg are unbeaten in their four most recent fixtures, emerging as victors twice while scoring 13 goals and conceding seven times.

The visitors have played six away matches this term, though they have drawn two and lost one of their past three outings on the road, and they only came out on top against hosts Altglienicke in the DFB-Pokal in August following a penalty shootout.

Freiburg DFB-Pokal form:

Freiburg form (all competitions):

Wolfsburg DFB-Pokal form:

Wolfsburg form (all competitions):

Team News

Freiburg will believe they have a strong chance of winning the DFB-Pokal, so it would not be surprising if starters like Igor Matanovic and Jan-Niklas Beste started in attack.

However, with Yannik Engelhardt a doubt due to a hip issue, it would be surprising if Schuster risked him in midfield, meaning Patrick Osterhage could partner Maximilian Eggestein.

Goalkeeper Florian Muller may come into the XI, and the shot-stopper could be protected by centre-backs Max Rosenfelder and Philipp Lienhart.

Wolfsburg midfielder Mattias Svanberg has been ruled out until the middle of November, so perhaps Yannick Gerhardt and Vinicius Souza will be stationed together in a double pivot.

If the Wolves are to win, they will need forwards Alexander Bernhardsson, Muhammed Mehmet Damar, Alessio Besio and Robert Glatzel to be at their best.

Freiburg possible starting lineup:

Muller; Kubler, Rosenfelder, Lienhart, Makengo; Eggestein, Osterhage; Beste, Suzuki, Grifo; Matanovic

Wolfsburg possible starting lineup:

Wellenreuther; Kumbedi, Wahl, Cleiton, Maehle; Gerhardt, Vinicius; Bernhardsson, Damar, Besio; Glatzel

We say: Freiburg 3-1 Wolfsburg

Wednesday's clash could be uncomfortably close for periods, especially given the hosts have struggled for form of late.

However, Freiburg's near-perfect record at home should make them strong favourites to advance into the DFB-Pokal's next round.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.