Mainz vs. Frankfurt preview: Eintracht finish up a busy week
Frankfurt go on the road for the second time this week against Mainz, who are looking to shake off a disappointing showing in the capital.
| Jens Petter Hauge. | Photo: Sven Mandel, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 |
Mainz
On Matchday 1, Mainz were welcomed by the “Kevin Behrens show”. Except for a wonder goal from Anthony Caci, they struggled offensively and Ludovic Ajorque even missed two penalties.
But, it’s a new week and unlike Frankfurt, Mainz are well rested. They are still busy on the transfer market as they signed Hertha midfielder Marco Richter and PSV right-back Phillipp Mwene this week.
In his press conference, Bo Svensson said, "I wasn't pleased with the performance in Berlin. This is our first game at home and we want to take advantage of the opportunity to put in a better performance."
Team News
Andreas Hanche-Olsen is questionable after only returning to team training on Friday. Jonathan Burkardt and Silvan Widmer remain out.
Frankfurt
After a narrow 1-0 win over Darmstadt to begin their league campaign, Frankfurt drew on Thursday night in Bulgaria for their Europa Conference League qualifying fixture. Dino Toppmöller could rest some regular starters this weekend with their third game in just seven days.
Despite the congestion, Eintracht have a pretty easy start to the Bundesliga season. Die Adler must take advantage of their next three games against Mainz, Köln, and Bochum before the schedule really starts to toughen up.
Toppmöller stated, “The game against Mainz is a completely different one to (Levski) Sofia; it has a completely different character. Mainz play a lot of long balls with (Ludovic) Ajorque as their target man. We need to maintain control at the back and in front of our defensive line.”
Team News
Lucas Alario and Sebastian Rode remain out with injuries, while Hugo Larsson and Makoto Hasebe are both questionable.