RB Leipzig vs. Eintracht Frankfurt preview: A major top 6 clash
Champions League competitors Leipzig and Frankfurt wrap up a grueling week against one another on Saturday as the fight is back on for two clubs right in the Bundesliga title race.
| Photo: Steffen Prößdorf, CC BY-SA 4.0 |
RB Leipzig
Leipzig easily handled Wolfsburg last weekend and admirably drew to Manchester City at home midweek. It doesn’t get any easier on Saturday against a well-coached Frankfurt side in the primetime evening slot.
Leipzig sit 5th at 39 points and are within reach of the three tied on points at the top of the league. They will need some goals from the likes of Szoboszlai, Werner and Silva up front especially if Nkunku is unable to play.
The Red Bull club handily lost 4-0 to Eintracht back in September and are hoping to flip the script in their second meeting of the season. Marco Rose has done a phenomenal job turning this team around and has only lost three competitive games out of 24 matches.
Rose said, "Oliver Glasner's intense and aggressive football has brought big success to Frankfurt. They have solutions in and out of possession. Their center-forward is incredible and they have a lot of good players."
Team News
Peter Gulacsi, Abdou Diallo and Dani Olmo still remain unavailable. Although Christopher Nkunku did sub on against Manchester City, he’s questionable for Saturday’s game. Lukas Klostermann’s status is also up in the air.
Eintracht Frankfurt
Frankfurt took care of business against Werder Bremen last weekend, but couldn’t keep up with Napoli, one of the hottest teams in the world, on Tuesday. All is still well, except for their main man up front.
Randal Kolo Muani saw red and is now dealing with a knock suffered from that game. If he’s unable to go this weekend, expect the hard-running Rafael Borre to play alongside Lindstrøm and Götze up front.
With rumors swirling over their imminent departures, Frankfurt need the likes of Daichi Kamada and Evan Ndicka to step up and get a result for a squad in the midst of a tiring stretch of games.
Speaking to their supporters in his pre-match presser, Oliver Glasner commented, “The fans appreciate triumphs that we forget much more quickly than people around us. That helps our well-being much more on the back of defeats than after victories. It’s a wonderful gesture - thank you for that.”
Team News
Junior Dina Ebimbe is the only notable confirmed absentee for the reigning Europa League champions. However, Muani may be rested after picking up a knock.