Eintracht Frankfurt will hope to continue their winning start to 2025 when they welcome Freiburg to Deutsche Bank Park on Tuesday in their 17th Bundesliga match of the campaign.
The hosts beat St Pauli 1-0 on Saturday and are third with 30 points, while Freiburg emerged as 3-2 victors against Holstein Kiel on January 11 and are sixth with 27 points after 16 matchweeks.
Match preview
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The Eagles were perhaps fortunate to have earned a win against St Pauli without conceding given they faced five big chances and 2.25 xG, but match-winner Omar Marmoush finished excellently from inside the box in the 32nd minute to give his side all three points,
Goalkeeper Kevin Trapp insisted that the team have a lot to work on despite their victory, saying: "1-0 sounds almost perfect, but if you look at the 90 minutes, there are certainly still a few things we need to improve. We let ourselves fall too far behind with the goal and almost didn't get forward in the second half."
Manager Dino Toppmoller's side have scored 36 goals and conceded 23 times in the Bundesliga this term, and these are the top flight's third-best offensive and joint seventh-best defensive records.
Toppmoller will have been relieved by the win last time out considering the club had lost four and drawn one of the five games prior to Saturday's match.
While the Eagles have drawn one and lost one of their two most recent outings at home, they did achieve victories in the previous five at Deutsche Bank Park and have only lost at their own stadium once in their past 12.
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Opponents Freiburg were also arguably fortunate to have taken all three points last weekend given they created no big chances, though to their credit they were defensively resilient up until Holstein Kiel scored their first goal in the 85th minute.
Captain Christian Gunter said in the aftermath that Breisgau-Brasilianer should not have allowed themselves to be forced back but reflected on the season positively, telling reporters: "We let ourselves be pushed in at the back and had no more order. Fortunately, we managed to get time, but that shouldn't happen to us.
"Basically, it's outstanding for us that we have 27 points after 16 matchdays. We want to continue there."
Boss Julian Schuster will be pleased that his side have found the back of the net seven times in their two most recent outings, though he will be concerned that they have conceded on nine occasions in that period.
Freiburg have been inconsistent in recent weeks considering they have won two, lost two and drawn one of their past five fixtures.
The visitors' form on the road is poor, with the club failing to win any of their last six away from home, losing four and drawing two in that time.
Team News
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Eintracht Frankfurt will only be without centre-back Aurele Amenda, who is set to miss out on action until the middle of February, and this could mean that Nnamdi Collins, Arthur Theate and Robin Koch start in a back three.
Mario Gotze was in the XI last time out, but it would not be surprising if Oscar Hojlund came into the starting lineup in midfield alongside Hugo Larsson and Ellyes Skhiri after featuring for 20 minutes on Saturday.
Marmoush is certain to play in a front two, and he is likely to be partnered by Hugo Ekitike.
As for Freiburg, they will be unable to call upon midfielder Daniel-Kofi Kyereh, so expect Maximilian Eggestein to play in a double pivot with Merlin Rohl.
Centre-back Philipp Lienhart is a doubt because of illness, and if he does not recover in time for Tuesday's match, Maximilian Rosenfelder may partner Matthias Ginter in defence.
Elsewhere, Eren Dinkci could feature in the forward line behind striker Michael Gregoritsch, who may be flanked by Ritsu Doan and Vincenzo Grifo.
Eintracht Frankfurt possible starting lineup:
Trapp; Collins, Theate, Koch; Kristensen, Larsson, Skhiri, Hojlund, Brown; Ekitike, Marmoush
Freiburg possible starting lineup:
Atubolu; Kubler, Ginter, Rosenfelder, Gunter; Eggestein, Rohl; Doan, Dinkci, Grifo; Gregoritsch
We say: Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 Freiburg
Eintracht Frankfurt's home record is strong despite their loss last time out at Deutsche Bank Park, and they should be considered favourites.
Having said that, the Eagles' performance against St Pauli was far from perfect, and if they perform similarly on Tuesday, then Freiburg will undoubtedly create chances.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Lewis Nolan
