The UEFA Champions League returns this week, with Europa League Champions Frankfurt playing host to Tottenham Hotspur in the Deutsche Bank Park in Germany.
Venue: Deutsche Bank Park (Frankfurt)
Key Statistics
Eintracht Frankfurt have a good record against English teams having won three of their last seven games against Premier League teams (D3, L1).
The hosts have won their last three games in all competitions while keeping two clean sheets.
They have failed to score in two of their last three games at home.
All but three of Tottenham’s last 16 wins in all competitions have been accompanied by a 2+ goal margin.
Spurs have lost two of their last away games while conceding five goals.
They are winless in their last three road trips and have won only in five away games this season (D2, L2).
Head to head
This will be the first meeting between both teams in 40 years.
Latest performances in all competitions
Frankfurt: W-W-W-L-L
Tottenham: L-W-L-W-W
Frankfurt
Eintracht Frankfurt will look to take home the maximum points available in this huge clash against Antonio Conte’s wounded Tottenham side.
With both teams tied on three points, Oliver Glasner will be keen to see his side capitalise on this fixture to go ahead of the English team by securing all three points against Conte’s side.
The Austrian coach has overseen an impressive return of results this season, with Die Adler picking up two draws, two losses and four wins, the last which was an impressive 2-0 win over League leaders Union Berlin in the German Bundesliga.
The win over Union Berlin was their third straight win in all competitions. Such has been the rise of the team that finished in eleventh position in the German Bundesliga last season and qualified for the Champions League by winning the Europa League. They are vying for first place in Group D of the UEFA Champions League this season.
Frankfurt secured a 0-1 win over Marseille in week two of the UEFA Champions League and will now be looking to make it two wins in a row and four in all competitions when Antonio Conte’s team roll into town, but will face a stern test against an English side who will be out to bounce back from their recent defeats.
Oliver Glasner will be relying heavily on the home fans who have been instrumental to all Germans have achieved in the past months, to be the 12th man once more when both teams lock horns.
Possible Frankfurt starting line-up
Kevin Trapp; Ansgar Knauff, Tuta, Evan NDicka, Luca Pellegrini; Kristijan Jakic, Djibril Sow; Randal Kolo Muani, Mario Götze, Daichi Kamada: Rafael Santos Borre.
Injured: Aurelio Buta, Jerome Onguene, Almamy Toure
Doubtful: Kristijan Jakic, Mehdi Loune
Suspended: None
Tottenham
Tottenham Hotspur, on the other hand, will be looking to bounce back from their defeat to Arsenal last weekend.
Antonio Conte’s side succumbed to a 3-1 loss to Mikel Arteta’s side with goals from Gabriel Jesus, Granit Xhaka and Thomas Partey, ensuring that Harry Kane’s 44th derby goal was only a consolation for the Lilly Whites.
The loss to the Gunners brought an end to Tottenham Hotspur’s unbeaten start to the season and was also their second in their last three games after they were defeated by Sporting Lisbon in game week two of the UEFA Champions League, a loss that saw them lose top spot to the Portuguese side in Group D.
No thanks to the defeat to Sporting Lisbon, the race to the top has been blown wide open, and with the race heating up, Antonio Conte will be pushing his boys to secure all three points against the Germans who are also suddenly in the mix for the race for top spot after their win over Marseille in game week two.
The absence of Dejan Kulusevski will be a huge blow to the Lilly Whites, who evidently struggled to create anything against Arsenal, Antonio Conte will now be relying more heavily on his talismanic duo of Harry Kane and Son Heung Min to deliver the first win of the month October as they look to bounce back from two straight away losses.
Possible Tottenham starting line-up
Hugo Lloris; Cristian Romero, Eric Dier, Clement Lenglet; Emerson Royal, Rodrigo Bentancur, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Ivan Perisic; Richarlison, Son Hueng-min, Harry Kane.
Injured: Lucas Moura, Dejan Kulusevski
Doubtful: Ben Davies
Suspended: None
Prediction
Frankfurt 2-1 Tottenham
