Full steam ahead Europe

"Champions League rather than no man's land," wrote "kicker" of Eintracht Frankfurt's recent upturn in form  – a reference to their impressive unbeaten streak in the last eight rounds. The Eagles have picked up six wins and two draws during that time – a run which has seen them rise to fourth place in the Bundesliga. Coach Adi Hütter's team had been languishing in mid-table prior to that, with virtually no prospect of securing their place in a European competition. At the close of Matchday 12, the men from Hesse were still in 10th spot. At that stage of the season, the 2018 DFB Cup winners had only two wins on the board, plus eight draws and two defeats.

Approximately six weeks later, the club's fortunes have been entirely transformed – Eintracht are on the attack and have not been shy about their ambitions off the pitch: "We're yearning for Europe," said Adi Hütter following the recent 3-1 victory over Hertha BSC. With 20 points from their last eight matches, Eintracht will go into their meeting with TSG in buoyant mood. "Once again, we showed the class and the self-confidence that is setting us apart at the moment," said goalkeeper Kevin Trapp last Saturday after the trip to the capital.

One reason behind Frankfurt's rejuvenation has been their tactical set-up. Rather than the 3-5-2 that he had previously favoured, Adi Hütter is now lining his team up in a 3-4-2-1 system. This tactical tweak has been especially beneficial to midfielders and key men Amin Younes, Filip Kostic and Djibril Sow. The team now find more creative solutions going forward and have recently done well even against extremely deep-lying teams. And André Silva, the team's top goalscorer, seems to be even more at home in his new role as the lone frontman than he was before. Since Matchday 12, the Portugal international has found the net nine times and claimed two assists as well. His personal record now stands at 16 goals in 18 games, and he occupies second place in the Bundesliga goalscoring charts behind Robert Lewandowski.

Eintracht's sporting director Fredi Bobic had a particularly busy time of it over the brief winter break. Five players (Bas Dost, David Abraham, Marijan Cavar, Dominik Kohr and Danny da Costa) left the club, while only one player was signed ahead of the second half of the season. Luka Jović, who previously played for Eintracht between 2017 and 2019, re-joined on loan from Real Madrid for the remainder of the 2020/21 campaign. The Serbia international has since made four appearances for Eintracht – three of them from the bench – and already has three goals to his name. A brace against FC Schalke 04 on his first appearance since returning to the club shows that the 23-year-old has already settled in well to his old/new team.

One of the key challenges awaiting TSG in their upcoming game will be to stop the Frankfurt strikeforce, spearheaded by Silva and the on-loan Jović. If they manage that, coach Sebastian Hoeness and his side could end a very long winless run against the Eagles. The last time Hoffenheim beat Eintracht was almost three and a half years ago: on Matchday 31 of the 2016/17 season, Benjamin Hübner scored a 90th-minute goal to seal a 1-0 victory.

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