Lucas Höler has already scored three goals in Bayern’s living room. Will the next strike follow in the top match in Munich on Saturday? The Freiburg striker is not only getting praise from his coach at the moment.
For Christian Streich, Lucas Höler was emblematic of the 3-1 win over SpVgg Greuther Fürth at the weekend.The SC Freiburg coach praised the attacker’s quickness of action, anticipating a mistake by Abdourahmane Barry in the difficult phase after Fürth’s 78th-minute equaliser, conquering his too-short return to keeper Marius Funk and taking the match-deciding penalty.
This was all the more remarkable, according to Streich, because the 27-year-old had, as usual, made an enormous running effort over 120 minutes in the narrow cup win in Osnabrück four days earlier and over 78 minutes in the 2-0 win in Wolfsburg three days before that, consequently leaving a lot of energy.
Höler “provides great relief for us at the back,” says Kübler
Höler keeps running and running anyway and is having a remarkable run at the moment. Two assists against Fürth, two assists in Osnabrück, a goal in Wolfsburg – that’s what you call top form. “Luci Höler is playing insanely well up front at the moment, making almost every ball count. “With his ball-assertions and the many fouls he draws, he provides great relief for us at the back. “
After his transfer from second-division club Sandhausen in January 2018, the 1.84-metre man initially had technical deficits that made it difficult for him to adapt to Bundesliga level. For some time, Höler was also criticised by his own supporters, was underestimated for a long time and still is at times. But he is currently an indispensable player for the third-placed team in the league, with three goals and three assists in the league and three assists in the cup.
Höler has already scored three times against Bayern, of all teams
Höler’s best performance in an SC shirt so far came at the end of September, when he shone in the 3-0 win over Augsburg with an eye-catching assist and a world-class header, among other things. But “the first defender” of the Streich team is also valuable away from the scorer’s points thanks to his tireless commitment – not only in effectively running at the opponent
This will probably keep Höler busy a lot on Saturday in the top match at FC Bayern, but SC is also particularly counting on his goal-scoring qualities, which he has shown rather sporadically so far. Höler has already scored three times against Bayern, of all teams.
With a total of only 20 Bundesliga goals in 117 appearances, he can only boast such a number against Leverkusen. Moreover, all three goals were scored in Munich. The last two defeats were nevertheless (1:2 in January 2021, 1:3 in June 2020). In November 2018, however, Höler’s late goal secured a 1-1 draw – Streich’s only point so far in his eight attempts at the Allianz Arena.
Will Höler net again this time? Will SC even manage a win for the first time after 21 unsuccessful attempts in Munich? Or will the streak of ten games without defeat be broken? We’ll have the answers on Saturday afternoon in the first duel in which both teams are in the top three of the table. Höler, at any rate, could hardly be better prepared.
