TSG opponents Frankfurt in astonishingly poor home form

The sports sections of newspapers in the Rhein-Main region are already turning their attentions to the Europa League semi-final first leg away to West Ham United next Thursday. Eintracht are expected to be strictly limited to 3,000 tickets at the Olympic Stadium in London – meaning there will be no repeat of the 30,000 Frankfurt supporters that watched their win in Barcelona. But in the run-up to TSG's visit to the Deutsche Bank Park, sporting director Markus Krösche is keen to make sure distraction does not set in and that the focus stays on next opponents Hoffenheim. "We've achieved something extraordinary in the Europa League. But we're not satisfied at all with our Bundesliga campaign. That particularly applies to the second half of the season," said Krösche on Wednesday, before directing a clear message to the players: "It's extremely important to win our home game against Hoffenheim. The Bundesliga is our bread and butter; we mustn't lose our focus. The Europa League is a bonus."

A glance at the statistics helps to explain the concern felt by Krösche, who emphatically declared: "Our expectation is to win significantly more home games." Eintracht have picked up only four wins on home turf this season, drawing five times and suffering six defeats. The Eagles are down in 16th place in the home table, with only 17 points; only Bielefeld and Fürth (both 14) have a worse record in their own back yard. This largely explains why the team are only 10th in the table and unlikely to qualify for an international competition via the Bundesliga.

Krösche went even further with his criticism. "We have many areas requiring improvement," he said, adding that the players were committing too many simple mistakes in defence and the chance conversion in attack was not up to scratch. The hope will be to improve against TSG and replicate the results of previous years: Hoffenheim have not won on any of their last five visits to Frankfurt (D1 L4) and last picked up three points there in April 2016 (a 2-0 win thanks to goals from Amiri and Uth).

On the personnel front, Eintracht coach Oliver Glasner was still contending with some problems on Thursday – though significantly fewer than his opposite number at TSG. Germany goalkeeper Kevin Trapp, who was replaced by former Hoffenheim shot-stopper Jens Grahl in the 2-0 loss away to Union Berlin on Easter Sunday due to a ligament strain in his wrist, will decide for himself whether he plays. "He's still feeling something in his hand and will make the call himself," Glasner said. It is also unclear whether Djibril Sow, who injured his knee in the 2-1 home loss against Freiburg a fortnight ago, will return. Glasner may rest the Switzerland international with the match against West Ham in mind. "In Sow's case, we'll wait for the final training session to see whether he'll be in the squad," explained the Austrian-born head coach, who may also forego other regulars as a result of the ongoing European adventure. Christopher Lenz is certain to miss out after fracturing his little toe.

Glasner holds TSG in high regard, as he emphasised at his press conference on Thursday. "“Hoffenheim have a high-quality team, with clear patterns in attack and they play football that is very slick with lots of variety. It’s the kind of style that’s suited us up until now. We’re also the type of team that tries to find creative solutions," said the coach, who also has a player in his ranks who tends to fare very well against "Hoffe". Left-winger Filip Kostic – the only player who has made more crosses than TSG player David Raum in the Bundesliga this season – has scored more goals against Hoffenheim than any other Bundesliga club (five).

Match facts and statistics »