Freiburg vs Maccabi Tel Aviv Prediction: Freiburg flying high

Freiburg can secure a top-eight place in the league phase of the Uefa Europa League with a victory over Maccabi Tel Aviv on Thursday night (17:45 GMT, TNT Sports 8), and that may not be the limit of the Breisgau Brazilians’ ambitions. Maccabi have lost five of their six continental contests, and they will be eliminated if they fail to take three points from their trip to Germany.

Zarko Lazetic’s men head to Europa-Park Stadion following five straight Europa League defeats, and they will need a whole host of results to go their way to have any chance of knockout football. Below are my Freiburg vs Maccabi Tel Aviv predictions, supported by all the latest team news and match odds.

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Team News

Freiburg's Daniel-Kofi Kyereh is nearing a return following a long lay-off, but won’t play any part on Thursday night. Centre-back Philipp Lienhart will also miss the visit of Maccabi.

Football Odds

For Maccabi, Denny Gropper and Ion Nicolaescu are on the sidelines, but they can welcome back Sagiv Yehezkel back from suspension. 

Freiburg vs Maccabi Tel Aviv Odds

At 1/6, Freiburg are the shortest-priced favourites on the entire Europa League card, and they are sure to feature in many accas. Maccabi are 16/1 for the upset, and the draw is available at 6/1.

Over 2.5 goals is rated as a 1/2 chance, while both teams to score is considered less likely at 5/4.

Freiburg to win to nil @ 7/10

Freiburg are unbeaten in this season’s Europa League, having won four and drawn two of their six continental contests, and the German side still have hopes of topping the league.

The Breisgau Brazilians have all but sealed a spot in the top-eight positions and Basel, Utrecht, Nice and Salzburg have all been beaten by Julian Schuster’s men.

A rock-solid defence has been a feature of Freiburg's success - the Germans have conceded only three goals in their six Europa League contests.

Today's Football Fixtures

They now step down to play one of the weakest sides in the competition, and it’s hard to see Maccabi finding the net.

The Yellows’ last five Europa League matches have ended in defeats of 4-1, 6-0, 2-0, 3-0 and 3-1, and backing Freiburg to win to nil rates as a strong play.

Vincenzo Grifo to score first @ 4/1

Vice-captain Vincenzo Grifo has hit four goals in his last nine appearances for Freiburg, and the 32-year-old has been in good goalscoring form this season.

The former Italian international has six Bundesliga strikes this term, alongside a brace in the Europa League.

Grifo will also be on penalty-taking duty against a Maccabi side expected to be firmly on the back foot.

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