Eintracht Frankfurt and Mainz 05 head into their Bundesliga clash on Saturday separated only by goal difference in the table, with both sides battling it out for the European places.
The hosts have won five of their last six in the league during an excellent run of form, whilst the visitors continued their miraculous first half of the campaign by recording a big win in midweek.
Match preview
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Frankfurt managed to get one over on their former boss when they travelled to Borussia Monchengladbach on Wednesday evening, defeating Adi Hutter's side in a thrilling 3-2 encounter.
This despite falling behind just six minutes in and also being reduced to 10 men for the final 20 minutes following central defender Tuta's second yellow card.
In between those events saw four goals netted inside 11 minutes either side of half time, with Rafael Santos Borre, Jesper Lindstrom and Daichi Kamada netting for Oliver Glasner's side.
The result, and the performance, was excellent considering the strength of their opponents at Borussia-Park, and the three points followed up another comprehensive win last weekend, when Die Adler dispatched third-placed Bayer Leverkusen by a 5-2 scoreline at the Commerzbank Arena.
Frankfurt return home on Saturday where they do have a poor record however, with just two wins being picked up in their seven home fixtures to date, although just the one defeat has been suffered in that time as well.
Scoring goals was the primary reason for their struggles to turn draws into wins earlier in the campaign, but following 21 in their last nine games across all competitions, which has led to to an impressive 15 points from the last 18 on offer, Frankfurt have risen to seventh in the table ahead of the final match before the winter break on Saturday.
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Meanwhile, Mainz visit the Commerzbank Arena level on points with their hosts as previously mentioned, but above them courtesy of their superior goal difference.
It means that the incredible turnaround in form in the second half of last season to miraculously avoid the drop comfortably come May has been carried into the 2021-22 campaign too.
Bo Svensson's side are sixth ahead of the weekend's matchday 17, with just three points separating them from Hoffenheim in a Champions League spot in fourth.
A potential European spot would not have even been dreamed about prior to a ball being kicked back in August, but following results like the 4-0 hammering of Hertha Berlin on Tuesday evening, Svensson has supporters wondering what could be if Die Nullfunfer can maintain this level of performances and results.
Lee Jae-sung, Alexander Hack, Silvan Widmer and Jean-Paul Boetius all netted during the midweek rout for the Carnival side, which came as a response to an unfortunate narrow defeat at the hands of league-leaders Bayern Munich last weekend.
The 2-1 loss, where the champions were made to work hard following a fantastic effort from Svensson's team, showcased how far they had come under his guidance this calendar year.
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Team News
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Tuta's red card in midweek means he will sit out the final match prior to the winter break, with veteran Makoto Hasebe set to replace the young Brazilian in the three-man backline.
Kristijan Jakic was also withdrawn midway through the first half due to a hip injury, and with the central midfielder out until the new year, Sebastian Rode is likely to deputise in the centre of the pitch.
Jens Petter Hauge is the only other absentee, to allow Glasner to name an otherwise unchanged side during this strong run of form.
As for the visitors, their thumping win over Hertha did come at a cost, with Karim Onisiwo picking up an ankle injury to rule the striker out until after the winter break.
Marcus Ingvartsen is expected to join Jonathan Burkardt in attack, in what could be the only change to Svensson's settled starting 11 for much of the campaign.
Jeremiah St Juste, Anderson Lucoqui and Dominik Kohr are also sidelined, whilst Adam Szalai could miss out again for personal reasons.
Eintracht Frankfurt possible starting lineup:
Trapp; Hinteregger, Hasebe, N'Dicka; Costa, Rode, Sow, Kostic; Lindstrom, Kamada; Borre
Mainz 05 possible starting lineup:
Zentner; Bell, Hack, Niakhate; Widmer, Barreiro, Stach, Lee, Martin; Burkardt, Ingvartsen
We say: Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 Mainz 05
This clash is very difficult to call considering the similar level in quality that both sides have produced so far this season.
However, based on recent form, as well as the struggles that Mainz have had on their travels compared to their home form, we are predicting a narrow home victory for Frankfurt in what is sure to be an intriguing encounter.
Top tip
Matthew Tranter
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Eintracht Frankfurt win with a probability of 51.69%. A win for Mainz 05 had a probability of 25.33% and a draw had a probability of 23%.
The most likely scoreline for a Eintracht Frankfurt win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.68%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (8.8%) and 2-0 (8.01%). The likeliest Mainz 05 win was 1-2 (6.43%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (10.63%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with an 8.8% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Eintracht Frankfurt would win this match.
