Two Bundesliga teams seeking to secure the Europa Conference League qualification spot square off on Friday night as sixth-placed Eintracht Frankfurt play host to seventh-placed Augsburg at Deutsche Bank Park.
Die Fuggerstadter are looking to complete their first league double over the Eagles since 2017-18 after winning 2-1 in the reverse fixture at the WWK Arena just over four months ago.
Match preview
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Frankfurt enter Friday's contest following a disappointing run of only two Bundesliga victories in their last 10 matches since the beginning of February, failing to win any of their last four games in the process.
The Eagles followed up back-to-back draws with Union Berlin and Werder Bremen with a 3-0 defeat at Stuttgart last weekend; three goals inside the opening 37 minutes ultimately condemned the visitors to their seventh league loss of the campaign.
Hopes of sneaking into the top four or five have faded over the last few months and Dino Toppmoller's side are now clinging on to sixth place in the Bundesliga standings, sitting just three points above Friday's opponents Augsburg in seventh with only five games remaining.
Frankfurt will welcome a return to Deutsche Bank Park where they are unbeaten in their last eight top-flight matches, although four of their last five have ended as draws with teams currently in the bottom half of the table; only VfL Bochum have drawn as many Bundesliga games as Frankfurt (12) so far this season.
Toppmoller must find a way for his Conference League-chasing side to turn solitary points into three, starting with Friday's clash with Augsburg before challenging encounters with champions Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig.
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After beginning 2024 with only one win in six Bundesliga matches, Augsburg have since claimed maximum points in five of their last seven league games to climb into the top half of the table and put themselves in with a shot of Conference League qualification.
Jess Thorup's men returned to winning ways last weekend when they beat Union Berlin 2-0 on home soil courtesy of goals either side of half time from Phillip Tietz and Sven Michel.
Die Fuggerstadter only won nine games and accumulated 34 points last season as they narrowly avoided relegation, but they have already notched up 10 victories and boast five more points (39) this term with five games still left to play.
Victory on Friday would see Augsburg move level on points with Frankfurt, but winning by at least a two-goal margin would see them leapfrog the Eagles into sixth spot on goal difference.
Augsburg have not finished in the top six of the Bundesliga since the 2014-15 campaign when they secured fifth place under former boss Markus Weinzierl, but their European dreams will receive a huge boost if they can end their four-game winless run at Deutsche Bank Park.
Team News
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Eintracht Frankfurt trio Sasa Kalajdzic, Mehdi Loune and Sebastian Rode are all sidelined with knee injuries, while Ellyes Skhiri is doubtful with a calf problem.
Tuta will serve the second of this three-match suspension this weekend, but Eric Junior Dina Ebimbe is available to return from his one-game ban and could be recalled at right wing-back at the expense of Aurelio Buta.
Mario Gotze missed the defeat at Stuttgart through illness, but he should be fit to feature on Friday and could replace Makoto Hasebe to start in midfield alongside Hugo Larsson, while Paris Saint-Germain loanee Hugo Ekitike will be pushing to start in attack alongside Fares Chaibi and Omar Marmoush.
As for Augsburg, Raphael Framberger, Robert Gumny (both knee), Elvis Rexhbecaj (ankle), Fredrik Jensen (calf) and Reece Oxford (illness) are all in the treatment room, while Niklas Dorsch, Iago (both foot), Kristijan Jakic (Achilles) and Kevin Mbabu (knee) will all be assessed ahead of kickoff.
Maximilian Bauer could be tasked with filling in at right-back once again, joining Jeffrey Gouweleeuw, Felix Uduokhai and Mads Pedersen in the back four, while Tim Breithaupt is set to continue at the base of a four-man diamond midfield, starting next to Arne Engels, Arne Maier and Ruben Vargas.
Top scorer Ermedin Demirovic has netted 15 goals so far this season and the Bosnian is expected to link arms in attack with Tietz, who has eight goals to his name this term.
Eintracht Frankfurt possible starting lineup:
Trapp; Collins, Koch, Pacho; Dina Ebimbe, Larsson, Gotze, Max; Chaibi; Marmoush, Ekitike
Augsburg possible starting lineup:
Dahmen; Bauer, Gouweleeuw, Uduokhai, Pedersen; Breithaupt; Engels, Maier; Vargas; Tietz, Demirovic
We say: Eintracht Frankfurt 2-2 Augsburg
A closely-fought contest could be on the cards on Friday as well as plenty of goalmouth action at both ends of the pitch, as each of the last four meetings have seen both teams score.
Although the momentum is with Augsburg, we believe Frankfurt will do enough to claim a share of the spoils and hold on to sixth spot heading into their remaining four fixtures.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Oliver Thomas
