Eintracht Frankfurt vs Greuther Fürth preview: Can Die Adler warm-up for the Barcelona contest with a win?
Greuther Fürth will hope to catch Eintracht Frankfurt off guard, when they make the trip to Deutsche Bank Park to face a Frankfurt side that are preparing for a midweek Europa League clash against Barcelona.
| Filip Kostic. | Photo: GEPA Pictures/Roger Petzsche |
Eintracht Frankfurt
Eintracht Frankfurt will be eagerly anticipating the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final contest against Barcelona on Thursday, but before they can prepare to face Xavi’s rejuvenated side, Die Adler must negotiate a Bundesliga meeting with bottom-placed Greuther Fürth.
Oliver Glasner’s side enter the weekend’s round of fixtures in eighth place, with six points separating them from Hoffenheim, who sit in sixth position.
Despite being in the hunt for a European place, Frankfurt have struggled at home in 2022. Their six competitive home games this calendar year have resulted in one win, one draw and four defeats. As a result of picking up just three points from those six contests, they currently hold the worst Bundesliga home record in 2022.
In fact, Die Adler have relished their away trips more than their home encounters, with just four of their 13 home league matches this term resulting in victory.
Saturday’s hosts will, however, be buoyed by their current five-game unbeaten run in all competitions and a win over Fürth would set them up nicely for the clash with Barcelona in midweek.
Team News
With Martin Hinteregger suspended due to an accumulation of yellow card, Glasner has indicated that Makoto Hasebe will come into the back three. Meanwhile, Die Adler are still without the services of Christopher Lenz and Diant Ramaj, who miss out with calf and knee injuries respectively.
Greuther Fürth
Barring something miraculous, Fürth’s current stay in the topflight will last just a single season, with the bottom-placed side 11 points adrift of the playoff spot with just seven games remaining.
Stefan Leitl’s side had shown signs of improvement towards the start of the calendar year. They began 2022 with just one defeat in five matches, but their form since has tailed off.
The Kleeblätter enter Saturday’s contest in the midst of a five-match winless run, although they did restore some pride against Freiburg in their last outing. Having lost 6-1 away to RB Leipzig, a fixture against another Champions League chasing side was not ideal, but Leitl’s charges surprised many as they frustrated Freiburg to clinch a point.
That draw may have offered some welcome relief, but an away trip certainly doesn’t inspire much optimism in the Fürth ranks, with their 13 away league matches this season yielding just a single point.
Team News
If the visitors are to win on the road for the first time this season then they will have to do it without Marius Funk and Robin Kehr, who are both long-term injury absentees. Jeremy Dudziak, meanwhile, remains a doubt after missing the last two matches through injury.
