Sports Mole previews Saturday's Bundesliga clash between Eintracht Frankfurt and Greuther Furth, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Still seeking their first away victory in the Bundesliga this season, basem*nt club Greuther Furth will travel to Deutsche Bank Park to face Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday afternoon.
The hosts, meanwhile, could move to within four points of the Champions League positions if they were to claim maximum points on home soil, and if other results were to go their way.
Match preview
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Eintracht Frankfurt missed the chance to gain ground on their European-chasing rivals in the Bundesliga when they played out a goalless draw away at RB Leipzig before the international break, keeping a clean sheet for the first time in 2022.
Leipzig were in fact one of four teams above Frankfurt, along with Freiburg, Hoffenheim and FC Koln who also dropped points last time out, so the race for the top four is still hotly contested heading into the final seven games of the campaign.
Oliver Glasner's side remain eighth in the table, six points behind Hoffenheim in sixth place and seven points behind Freiburg in fourth. Frankfurt, however, can now be regarded as outsiders for a top-four and top six-finish as a disappointing run of just three victories in their last 10 top-flight matches has seen them slip behind their rivals.
Nevertheless, the Eagles head into Saturday's game against Greuther Furth unbeaten in their last five games across all competitions, and they will be confident of extending this run having lost only once in their last 11 meetings with the Cloverleaves, albeit only one of these fixtures has taken place within the last nine years.
That solitary fixture was in fact the reverse encounter between the two sides in November, which saw Rafael Borre net in the 93rd minute to seal a 2-1 away win for Frankfurt, just two minutes after Cedric Itten thought he had snatched a point for Furth.
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After suffering a heavy 6-1 home defeat to Leipzig, Greuther Furth managed to tighten up defensively and hold on for a goalless draw at home against Freiburg in their most recent game on March 19.
The Cloverleaves have accumulated just 15 points from their 27 Bundesliga matches, the lowest points total across Europe's top five leagues, and their inevitable demotion to the second tier is all but confirmed.
Stefan Leitl's side are now 11 points adrift from safety with seven league games remaining; only two of those seven fixtures are against sides currently positioned in the bottom half of the table.
Only one of their 15 points have been picked up away from home this season, a 2-2 draw with fellow relegation-threatened outfit Armenia Bielefeld in mid-January. In all 13 league matches on the road, Furth have conceded at least twice and in 10 of these games they have let in at least three goals.
One ray of hope for Furth heading into Saturday's game is that Frankfurt have struggled on home soil this term, as they have only won four of their 13 league matches at the Deutsche Bank Park; only Furth themselves (three) and Bielefeld (two) have won fewer games at home this season.
Eintracht Frankfurt Bundesliga form:
- L
- L
- L
- W
- W
- D
Eintracht Frankfurt form (all competitions):
- W
- W
- W
- D
- D
- D
Greuther Furth Bundesliga form:
- W
- L
- D
- L
- L
- W
Team News
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Frankfurt will be without left-back Christopher Lenz and winger Diant Ramaj, as they are recovering from respective calf and knee injuries.
Martin Hinteregger will serve a one-match suspension due to an accumulation of yellow cards, and he is set to be replaced in the back three by 38-year-old Japan international Makoto Hasebe, while midfielder Djibril Sow is available after serving his own one-game ban last time out.
With one eye on their Europa League tie against Barcelona next week, Tedesco may decide to make alterations to his starting lineup, which could see Timothy Chandler, Stefan Ilsanker, Jens Petter Hauge and Sam Lammers all handed starts ahead of Filip Kostic, Kristijan Jakic, Daichi Kamada and Rafael Borre, who may begin on the bench.
As for Greuther Furth, Jeremy Dudziak (Achilles), Gideon Jung (knee), Marius Funk and Robin Kehr (both ACL) are all sidelined with injuries.
Afimico Pululu has recovered from a bout of COVID-19, but the backup forward is unlikely to displace Jamie Leweling and Branimir Hrgota in the first XI.
Midfielder Paul Seguin and left-back Jetro Willems, who both began on the bench last time out, could return to the starting lineup at the expense of Tobias Raschl and Simon Asta respectively.
Eintracht Frankfurt possible starting lineup:
Trapp; Tuta, Hasabe, N'Dicka; Knauff, Ilsanker, Rode, Chandler; Hauge, Lindstrom; Lammers
Greuther Furth possible starting lineup:
Linde; Griesbeck, Bauer, Viergever; Meyerhofer, Tillman, Seguin, Christiansen, Willems; Leweling, Hrgota
We say: Eintracht Frankfurt 3-1 Greuther Furth
Frankfurt's underwhelming home record this season bodes well for Furth heading into this weekend's contest, as they hope to end the campaign with at least one away victory to their name.
With the Eagles potentially resting a few players, this may also give the visitors a stronger chance of claiming maximum points; however, we feel that Glasner's side should still have enough quality within their ranks to win on home soil.
Top tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting a home win in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Home Win:data
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