Freiburg vs Qarabag prediction: EUROPE: Europa League – Group Stage betting tips on match 2022-09-07 19:00.
A return to the UEFA Europa League (UEL) group stages after a nine-year hiatus awaits Germany’s Freiburg, who after failing to progress from the group stages in their last attempt in 2013/14, will be looking to make a better impression this time around. Qualifying automatically after finishing sixth in the Bundesliga last season, Freiburg have started this campaign in great form, as they currently top the Bundesliga charts after five matches (W4, L1).
Despite that one loss coming at home, the Europa-Park Stadion will be rocking when the Breisgau Brazilians finally welcome back European football with their last taste being a 1-0 win over Slovenian club Domžale in the 2017/18 UEL third qualifying round. Freiburg have a bit of national pride to protect when facing Azerbaijani opposition Qarabağ for the first time, as German clubs have defeated their Azerbaijani counterparts in all eight of their European meetings.
Four of those matches have involved Qarabağ themselves, who have lost their encounters with German opposition 9-1 on aggregate. Nonetheless, Qarabağ have made themselves somewhat of a European regular, as this is their ninth consecutive appearance in a UEFA group stage, after falling at the final hurdle of UEFA Champions League qualification when losing 2-1 to Viktoria Plzeň.
Having won their last two domestic games without conceding a goal, the Horsemen arrive in decent form as they too look to put their UEL group stage history firmly behind them. Qarabağ have struggled with the step-up in competition, as even though their last three UEL wins were all away from home, those make up their only victories in their last 21 UEL group stage outings (D3, L15).
Players to watch: Freiburg’s Michael Gregoritsch has scored his side’s opener in eight of his last 12 goalscoring outings, while Qarabağ’s Kady has scored six of his eight European goals after half-time.
Hot stat: Freiburg have scored nine of their 11 goals this season after half-time.