VfB Stuttgart vs SC Freiburg Bundesliga Sunday, October 29, 6:00 PM Mercedes-Benz Arena Injured: Gentner, Badstuber, Kaminski, Mangala, Donis (VfB) Referee: Tobias Stieler TV: Fox Sports 1, 10:00AM PST, 1:00PM EST VfBTV after the match We're carrying lots of injuries, so it was good to be back home and playing Freiburg in the Baden-Württemberg derby (as long as KSC is not around). The story of this match was decided 12 minutes in with an intentional handball trying to hold off Ginczek on a scoring opportunity. I wish the linesman had the guts to call it himself (assuming the ref's view was blocked), but thankfully video replay saved us once again. I don't know what's up with the Freiburg players, but there was another intentional handball near midfield near the end of the half that was also missed by the ref. Wolf could only laugh, knowing that we got the one that mattered. I was a little nervous as the 64% possession was resulting in some shots, but no goals. Finally some inspiration from an unexpected source. Berkay Özcan shook his defender and got a pass in from the wing. Ginczek got a foot to it under pressure. Not much doubt after that. Özcan got another assist on a free kick to Pavard - his first for us I think. Terodde added a third for fun. We're only up one spot in the standings, but on pace for 44 points after 10 match days. If feel like this team isn't playing their best, but should cruise to safety once they settle in. If they end the season with a winning record, that would be fantastic.
I agree that they are on pace for a decent finish (anything that doesn't involve fighting relegation is a good season in my book). They need to start picking up a couple points on the road though as they have yet to play any of the top teams at home. They should end up alright, but if they can't get some point on the road they might go the next 4 rounds without any points (@hamburg, vs Dortmund, @ Hannover & @ Weder Bremen). Hopefully Dortmund continues to sputter with their form through the mid November match at Stuttgart.
I would think that Hamburg sputtering is more likely than Dortmund, but their fortunes have flipped recently, so I get your point.