In their second matchweek of the 2024-25 Bundesliga season, Eintracht Frankfurt are set to host Hoffenheim on Saturday at Deutsche Bank Park, and will be looking to bounce back from their defeat against Borussia Dortmund on August 24.
The home side squandered the chance to take the lead last weekend and are currently second last in 17th place with no points, while the visitors beat Holstein Kiel 3-2 last Saturday and are third with three points.
Match preview
The hosts started well against BVB in their opening game of the season and had four of the match's six shots after just 28 minutes, but they only had three shots in the rest of the game.
Even though Eintracht Frankfurt had prolonged spells without genuine chances in front of goal, they will be astonished that attacker Fares Chaibi somehow failed to give them the lead in the 71st minute when he missed an open goal from the middle of the six-yard box.
Chaibi was made to rue his stunning miss moments later when Jamie Bynoe-Gittens opened the scoring in the 72nd minute, and in truth, the Eagles can have few complaints about the result considering they had just 30% possession and conceded 20 shots.
Boss Dino Toppmoeller felt his side were in control of the game despite Dortmund having more possession, and insisted that if his side are as resilient defensively in the rest of the season, then they will have plenty of success this campaign.
Last term, Eintracht Frankfurt lost just once in their first 11 Bundesliga games, but they ended the campaign with five losses, four draws and only one win in their last 10 matches.
More positively, Toppmoeller's team have only lost at home twice in their last 27 league matches, with those defeats coming against last season's title-winners Bayer Leverkusen and runners-up Stuttgart.
Opponents Hoffenheim managed to beat newly-promoted Holstein Kiel, though they were aided by the fact they were awarded a penalty just three minutes into the game.
Andrej Kramaric scored the resulting spot kick, but he also took home the match ball after having netted all three of his team's goals.
Kramaric has scored 10 goals in his last eight league appearances, including two hat-tricks, and no one in the Bundesliga has been as productive in front of goal in the same period.
It is fair to say Die Kraichgauer deserved their victory considering the quality of their opportunities, but it will concern boss Pellegrino Matarazzo that his side still conceded five big chances.
Matarazzo's team come into the clash against Eintracht Frankfurt having won their last three Bundesliga games, including a 4-2 win against Bayern Munich on May 18 in the final matchweek of 2023-24.
It should be noted that Hoffenheim have lost eight, drawn one and won just twice in their last 11 away matches in the league.
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Team News
The hosts will be unable to call upon midfielder Mehdi Loune due to a knee injury, while teenager Krisztian Lisztes might miss out as a result of illness.
Eintracht Frankfurt could name an unchanged back four, so expect Rasmus Kristensen, Tuta, Robin Koch and Arthur Theate to start in front of goalkeeper Kevin Trapp.
As for the visitors, they have several injury absentees, including Ihlas Bebou, Finn Ole Becker, Marco John and Ozan Kabak due to knee issues.
Elsewhere, Tom Bischof and David Jurasek are also expected to miss out due to respective ankle and arm injuries.
Eintracht Frankfurt possible starting lineup:
Trapp; Kristensen, Tuta, Koch, Theate; Skhiri, Larsson; Marmoush, Gotze, Chaibi; Ekitike
Hoffenheim possible starting lineup:
Baumann; Akpoguma, Stach, Drexler; Kaderabek, Promel, Grillitsch, Prass; Kramaric; Hlozek, Bulter
We say: Eintracht Frankfurt 2-2 Hoffenheim
Given the form of attacker Kramaric, it would not be surprising if Hoffenheim managed to regularly threaten Kevin Trapp's goal.
However, Eintracht Frankfurt will feel they can pose challenges to the visitors considering their defensive struggles against newly-promoted Holstein Kiel.
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