The first Hessenderby of the New Year takes centre stage at Merck-Stadion am Bollenfalltor as Bundesliga basement club SV Darmstadt 98 play host to top-four hopefuls Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday.
Torsten Lieberknecht's men will be seeking revenge after suffering a narrow 1-0 away defeat to the Eagles on the opening weekend of the season back in August last year.
Match preview
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Darmstadt extended their unwanted winless run in the Bundesliga to 10 matches after they suffered a 3-0 home defeat to Borussia Dortmund in their first fixture of 2024 last weekend.
Goals from Julian Brandt, Marco Reus and Youssoufa Moukoko condemned the Lilies to their 11th top-flight defeat of the season and leaves them rooted to the foot of the table with just 10 points from 17 matches at the halfway stage.
Since claiming their first and only Bundesliga home win to date this season, a 4-2 success against RB Leipzig at the beginning of October, Darmstadt have picked up just one point from their last six home matches and have failed to score in each of their last four at Merck-Stadion am Bollenfalltor.
Hopes of ending their winless run in front of their own fans in the coming weeks are slim as they face rivals Frankfurt, Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen and third-placed Stuttgart in their next three home fixtures.
However, the Lilies will reminisce about their last home Hessenderby back in February 2017 when they beat Frankfurt 1-0 thanks to a 90th-minute winner from Sandro Sirigu. Another triumph on Saturday could prove to be invaluable in their bid to avoid the drop, especially with 15th-placed Union Berlin and 16th-placed Mainz 05 locking horns on Friday.
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After ending 2023 with a 2-1 home win over Borussia Monchengladbach, Eintracht Frankfurt kick-started the New Year with a slender 1-0 victory at RB Leipzig last weekend, their first-ever Bundesliga win at the Red Bull Arena.
Ansgar Knauff scored the only goal of the game with Frankfurt's only shot on target in the seventh minute, while an inspired display from goalkeeper Kevin Trapp, who made eight saves, ensured that the Eagles kept their first clean sheet since early November.
Frankfurt, who are bidding to win three successive Bundesliga matches for the first time under manager Dino Toppmoller this weekend, currently sit sixth in the table and have moved to within six points of Leipzig in fourth spot at the halfway stage.
Victory over Leipzig last time out was a timely triumph on the road for Frankfurt, who had previously lost each of their last four away matches, and they now embark on a run of four away fixtures in their next six across all competitions, starting with Saturday's derby clash with Darmstadt.
Frankfurt will be confident of success against their rivals this weekend, but they have had mixed success in their previous five visits to Merck-Stadion am Bollenfalltor as they have won two, lost two and drawn one, with their last win coming in April 2016 (2-1).
Team News
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Darmstadt trio Fraser Hornby, Braydon Manu and Fabian Nurnberger all remain sidelined with ankle injuries, while Marvin Mehlem (broken leg) and Aaron Seydel (calf) are also in the treatment room.
Mathias Honsak missed last weekend's game through illness and is a doubt for Saturday, as is Matthias Bader who was forced off at half time against Dortmund with a groin problem.
Tim Skarke, who has scored a team-high six goals so far this season, could be tasked with filling in at right wing-back if Bader is not deemed fit to feature, while Oscar Vilhelmsson could be recalled to start in attack with Tobias Kempe.
As for Eintracht Frankfurt, Sebastian Rode and Timothy Chandler are both ruled out with calf injuries, while Omar Marmoush, Ellyes Skhiri and Fares Chaibi are representing Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria respectively at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Toppmoller will be tempted to name the same starting lineup that began the win at Leipzig, with Premier League loanees Donny van de Beek and Sasa Kalajdzic set to link up with Knauff in the final third.
Ever-present defensive trio Willian Pacho, Robin Koch and Tuta are all set to retain their places in the first XI, but Niels Nkounkou could be replaced at left wing-back by Philipp Max.
SV Darmstadt 98 possible starting lineup:
Schuhen; Riedel, Klarer, Maglica; Skarke, Franjic, Holland, Karic; Kempe; Pfeiffer, Vilhelmsson
Eintracht Frankfurt possible starting lineup:
Trapp; Tuta, Koch, Pacho; Dina Ebimbe, Gotze, Larsson, Max; Knauff, Van de Beek; Kalajdzic
We say: SV Darmstadt 98 1-3 Eintracht Frankfurt
Frankfurt got the better of Darmstadt twice in 2023 by an aggregate score of 5-2 and they will be regarded as favourites to claim maximum points on Saturday.
Darmstadt will be motivated by the prospect of ending their miserable run of form with a derby triumph on home soil, but Frankfurt should have few problems outscoring their opponents en route to claiming their third consecutive Bundesliga victory.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Oliver Thomas
