Eintracht Frankfurt and Wolfsburg will be looking to record vital back-to-back victories when they go head to head at Deutsche Bank Park on Saturday.
The hosts could potentially climb into the European places if they manage to pick up all three points, whilst the visitors would pull themselves further away from danger if they can record the win.
Match preview
© Reuters
Frankfurt reignited their hopes of European qualification by defeating relegation-threatened Stuttgart 3-2 at the Mercedes Benz Arena last weekend.
Evan N'Dicka's early goal, and an Ajdin Hrustic brace off the bench, were enough for Oliver Glasner's side to edge out their hosts and record their first win of 2022 in the process.
A frustrating beginning to the new year had seen Die Adler pick up just one point from their previous three matches, against Borussia Dortmund, Augsburg and Arminia Bielefeld.
However, Glasner will be hoping that his side can kick on after last weekend's win, and will look for them to return to the form that they demonstrated at the back end of 2021, when his team won six out of their final seven Bundesliga encounters of the calendar year.
In order to do so on Saturday, Frankfurt will likely require a better performance than the one they put in at Stuttgart last week, with this weekend's hosts perhaps fortunate to come away with all three points in the end due to the number of missed opportunities by their opponents.
Should they manage to improve and record a second successive victory, Frankfurt could lift themselves to as high as fourth come the end of matchday 22, depending on results elsewhere over the weekend.
© Reuters
Meanwhile, Wolfsburg's 4-1 win over bottom-of-the-table Greuther Furth last weekend was an incredibly vital one.
Had Florian Kohfeldt's men fallen to a shock defeat at home to the minnows, they would have found themselves positioned in the relegation playoff spot of 16th.
Although the victory does ease some pressure on the Wolves, they still remain just two points above Augsburg in that spot heading into matchday 22 at the weekend.
The three points will also have done little to ease the pressure on Kohfeldt's position as manager, with the German having failed to win in his previous 11 games in charge, which included a four-game drought in front of goal as well.
A brace from Aster Vranckx, and further goals from Maximilian Arnold and Maximilian Philipp in the second half, helped Wolfsburg end that dreadful run of form with a crucial win, but considering the calibre of their opponents on that day, Kohfeldt will be looking to see how his players can follow that positive result up with their display against a tougher opponent on Saturday.
The remarkably tight nature of the battle for the European places in the Bundesliga this season means that Wolfsburg can move to within five points of their aim should they pick up all three points against Frankfurt, whilst potentially moving them as many points clear of the relegation playoff spot in the process as well.
- W
- W
- L
- D
- L
- W
- L
- L
- L
- D
- L
- W
Team News
© Reuters
Frankfurt will welcome back the influential Filip Kostic on Saturday, after the Serbian missed the win in Stuttgart with a bout of flu last week.
Christopher Lenz deputised and put in an excellent shift at left wing-back in that game, so Glasner could opt to return to a 3-4-2-1 formation and push Kostic further forward instead of replacing Lenz in his starting 11.
That victory did come at a cost though, with Makoto Hasebe being replaced late on with a broken rib, and Sebastian Rode being substituted at half time due to a knee injury.
Hrustic is likely to deputise following his impact from the bench, whilst Ragnar Ache and Daichi Kamada are expected to remain out for another week or two.
As for the visitors, Kohfeldt is likely to name an unchanged starting lineup after his side's improved performance and result last weekend.
As a result, Vranckx will likely support new recruits Max Kruse and Jonas Wind in attack once more, with the winter arrivals impressing on their debuts during the win.
Paulo Otavio, William and Xaver Schlager are long-term absentees, and Lukas Nmecha will also remain unavailable for another month due to his broken ankle.
Micky van de Ven is also ruled out of Saturday's trip to Frankfurt, after the defender picked up a thigh injury in his short cameo appearance against Greuther.
Eintracht Frankfurt possible starting lineup:
Trapp; Tuta, Hinteregger, N'Dicka; Chandler, Hrustic, Sow, Lenz; Lindstrom, Kostic; Borre
Wolfsburg possible starting lineup:
Casteels; Lacroix, Bornauw, Brooks; Baku, Arnold, Gerhardt, Steffen; Kruse, Vranckx; Wind
We say: Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 Wolfsburg
Despite picking up a first win in 12 games last week, we do not believe too much can be read into Wolfsburg's win against Greuther, so we are predicting for them to return to losing ways at Frankfurt on Saturday.
The hosts have been inconsistent on occasion this season, but on their day they should be able to see off a Wolfsburg side that has been way below expected standards for the majority of the campaign.
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 55.98%. A draw had a probability of 22.1% and a win for Wolfsburg had a probability of 21.88%.
The most likely scoreline for a Eintracht Frankfurt win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.88%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (9.21%) and 2-0 (8.83%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.3%), while for a Wolfsburg win it was 1-2 (5.76%). The actual scoreline of 0-2 was predicted with a 3% likelihood.
