Here is our preview for Thursday’s Europa League clash between the last German representative in the competition, Eintracht Frankfurt, and their opponent Tottenham.
| Hugo Ekitiké. | Photo: Alex Grimm / Getty Images. |
It was a fiery back and forth in the 1st leg of the quarter finals between Frankfurt and Tottenham: both teams had great chances to secure the victory and the 1-1 draw was a fair outcome for that match.
The 2nd leg will be played in Frankfurt – a huge advantage for “die Adler”! Their fans have become a staple of the competition and drove their team to glorious victories in recent years. Could they do it again against a team with almost triple their squad value (according to Transfermarkt) in Tottenham?
Hugo Ekitiké showed a stellar performance in the 1st leg, scoring in the 6th minute after a great solo run. Whenever Frankfurt were able to make use of their strength in counter attack, they came close to scoring.
However, Tottenham were quick to react to Frankfurt’s pressure, equalising the score in the 26th minute thanks to a beautiful backheel goal by rightback Pedro Porro. From then onwards, Tottenham dominated the game, but a draw was a fair result for both teams in the end.
On the weekend, Frankfurt were able to pick up a rather easy 3-0 victory against Heidenheim, thanks to goals from Ekitiké (again), Koch and Bahoya.
Coach Dino Toppmöller only rotated a few players to make sure everyone stays sharp for the return leg against Tottenham. The perfomance against Heidenheim definetly boosted Frankfurt’s confidence just in time for their game of the season (so far).
Frankfurt’s captain Kevin Trapp will not be able to return against Tottenham and even though he has shown many great performances over the last few years and also this season, his backup Kauã Santos has proven to be a more than reliable goalkeeper for die Adler in the meantime.
Ansgar Knauff however has returned to the squad and will be an option for Dino Toppmöller on Thursday, as the coach revealed on the press conference before the game.
Since there were no new injuries during the week, you can expect to see a similar or even the same lineup by Frankfurt on Thursday in regards to the 1st leg. The only changes Toppmöller could be tempted to make, would be to bring in Farès Chaïbi , who played well against Heidenheim, or the returning Ansgar Knauff.
While Frankfurt seem perfectly prepared for the huge matchup, Tottenham are still spiraling down under Ange Postecoglou; their 2-4 loss against Wolves in the Premier League over the weekend hasn’t strengthened their hopes of putting out a better performance in Germany.
To go one step further, this could actually be the very last match of Ange Postecoglou as the manager of Tottenham – should they lose against Frankfurt and therefore lose their last hope of getting into an international competition next season.
To sum up the squad selection, Tottenham will be without Kevin Danso and Radu Drăgușin.
It looks like the battle between the euphoric underdog in Frankfurt and the struggling giant in Tottenham could set both clubs onto very different paths for the upcoming weeks – we are extremly excited to see how it plays out in the end!
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