Two out-of-form sides go head to head in the Bundesliga on Saturday, with Eintracht Frankfurt hosting Hoffenheim at Deutsche Bank Park.
Both teams remain in the hunt for European football next season despite their struggles of late, but a turnaround in form is required with just four games left to play in Germany's top flight.
Match preview
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Although Frankfurt are not out of the race for the top six mathematically, their chances of qualifying for Europe next season via their league finish appear very slim.
The 2-0 defeat at fellow European hopefuls Union Berlin last time out leaves Die Adler down in 10th place, with eight points now separating them from last weekend's opponents in sixth place.
Therefore, Oliver Glasner's side are sure to focus much of their attention on Thursday's Europa League semi-final tie with West Ham United instead, with success in that competition being their only realistic chance of qualifying for continental football for the 2022-23 campaign.
A slow start to this campaign had been followed by an excellent turnaround in form in the lead up to the winter break, but with just three wins in 13 Bundesliga outings since the turn of the year, Saturday's hosts have struggled to juggle both European and domestic football this season.
In fact, the remarkable 3-2 victory at the Camp Nou over Barcelona recently is their only victory in seven matches across all competitions, as Frankfurt's Europa League displays continue to impress at the expense of their domestic form.
Glasner and his side are unlikely to take things easy at Deutsche Bank Park on Saturday however, as Frankfurt look to build some momentum to take into their semi-final tie with the Hammers, whilst they also look to improve their league position to a highest possible finish in the process.
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Meanwhile, visitors Hoffenheim come into Saturday's clash on the back of a five-game winless streak, in which only two goals have been netted by Sebastian Hoeness's men during that spell.
When Die Kraichgauer held league-leaders Bayern Munich to an impressive 1-1 at the beginning of March, they occupied fourth spot in the table, but following the alarming drop in standards in recent weeks, Hoffenheim have fallen to eighth ahead of matchday 31.
Three successive defeats followed the draw with the Bavarians, two of which arrived against relegation-threatened opponents - Hertha Berlin and VfL Bochum.
A goalless draw at home to bottom-of-the-table Greuther Furth last weekend summed up Hoffenheim's struggles of late, with Hoeness's side failing to create any clear opportunities on goal against the minnows.
However, if Saturday's visitors can find their goalscoring touch once again in the coming weeks, then they still remain in with a good chance of breaking back into the top six, with just two points separating them from Union in the final European spot as things stand.
A huge improvement is certainly required though, but after ending an eight-game winless streak against Frankfurt back in December with a 3-2 win, they will be hopeful of a repeat this weekend to keep their hopes alive.
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Team News
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Frankfurt are expected to have to make do without first-choice goalkeeper, and captain, Kevin Trapp once again on Saturday, with the 31-year-old being forced to miss the defeat at Union because of a wrist injury.
With 20-year-old backup option Diant Ramaj also remaining sidelined, Jens Grahl should deputise in between the posts once more.
Christopher Lenz is ruled out due to a broken toe, whilst Djibril Sow will be a big miss in the centre of the pitch should he be forced to sit out due to a knee problem that left him unavailable for the trip to the capital.
As for the visitors, Hoeness has some mixed news to contend with ahead of the trip to Frankfurt.
Christoph Baumgartner and Pavel Kaderabek will serve one-match suspensions following their fifth yellow cards of the campaign against Greuther last week, whilst Chris Richards is likely to miss out after picking up a thigh injury in the goalless draw.
Stefan Posch was also forced off with a head injury, but the defender is expected to be available to start in the three-man back line once again on Saturday.
Ermin Bicakcic, Benjamin Hubner and Marco John remained sidelined through injury, whilst Florian Grillitsch is labelled as a doubt due to a muscular problem.
Eintracht Frankfurt possible starting lineup:
Grahl; Tuta, Hinteregger, N'Dicka; Knauff, Rode, Hrustic, Kostic; Lindstrom, Hauge; Borre
Hoffenheim possible starting lineup:
Baumann; Posch, Vogt, Nordtveit; Akpoguma, Samassekou, Geiger, Raum; Kramaric; Bebou, Rutter
We say: Eintracht Frankfurt 1-1 Hoffenheim
With neither side in decent form in the lead up to this game, it is difficult to see either performing well enough to claim all three points.
As a result, we believe the two evenly-matched sides could cancel each other out and finish level, which would not suit either side in their hopes of achieving continental qualification.
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 46.41%. A win for Hoffenheim had a probability of 29.75% and a draw had a probability of 23.8%.
The most likely scoreline for a Eintracht Frankfurt win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.32%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (8.44%) and 2-0 (7.12%). The likeliest Hoffenheim win was 1-2 (7.22%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.03%). The actual scoreline of 2-2 was predicted with a 6.1% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted a draw in this match.
