UEFA Women’s Europa Cup Preview: Eintracht Frankfurt vs. FH Hafnarfjarðar

Eintracht Frankfurt entertain Hafnarfjarðar on Wednesday in the return leg of the second qualifying round of the UEFA Women’s Europa Cup. The Frauen-Bundesliga side have a narrow advantage with Rebecka Blomqvist’s penalty-kick separating the side last week.

Niko Arnautis’ side followed that up with a 6-1 victory over Karlsruhe in the DFB-Pokal. Meanwhile, Hafnarfjarðar suffered a third defeat in their last five games with a 3-2 loss to Grindavík/Njarðvík.

Frankfurt are also unbeaten in Frauen-Bundesliga as they currently sit above fellow UEFA Women’s Europa Cup participants VfL Wolfsburg. Before the upcoming international break, Frankfurt will host league leaders FC Bayern at Stadion am Brentanobad, which will also be the venue for Wednesday’s European encounter.

The seven-time Frauen-Bundesliga winners took part in the inaugural UEFA Women’s Europa Cup campaign. They were denied a place in the final by the eventual champions BK Häcken with a 3-1 aggregate defeat in the semi-final.

Arnautis confirmed in his pre-game press conference that there are no injury concerns before the game. The winner of the tie will be in the Round of 16 draw on Friday. The tournament bracket will also be decided that day at the ceremony in Nyon.

Predicted Lineups

Frankfurt: Altenburg; Rankin, Ilestedt, Doorsoun, Krumbiegel; Lundgaard, Ivelj, Freigang ©, Memeti, Blomqvist, Tolhoek

Hafnarfjarðar: Guðmundsdóttir; Magnúsdóttir, Björnsdóttir, Smith, Linnet, Haraldsdóttir; Sandoval, Errington, Hauksdóttir ©; Snorradóttir, Christopher