MatchThe opposition lowdown: Eintracht Frankfurt
Get the lowdown on Eintracht Frankfurt ahead of Liverpool’s Champions League meeting with the Bundesliga outfit tonight.
The Reds’ third league-phase fixture is in Germany at Deutsche Bank Park, an 8pm BST kick-off against Dino Toppmoller’s side.
For an in-depth insight on what to expect from the hosts, Liverpoolfc.com spoke to footballtransfers.com Bundesliga expert Ronan Murphy.
Firstly, could you give us an overview of the start to the season for Eintracht in the Bundesliga…
Like Liverpool, Eintracht Frankfurt are a team very much in transition this season. But unlike Liverpool, Frankfurt have this scenario most seasons. Every Bundesliga club not called Bayern Munich usually sees their biggest and best players leave eventually, and Frankfurt are well-used to this scenario. They’ve lost both Omar Marmoush and Hugo Ekitike in the last 12 months and have brought in Jonathan Burkardt and Ritsu Doan to provide goals instead. That’s worked pretty well as they have 10 goals between them so far and Frankfurt have been scoring for fun, particularly in the Bundesliga.
The big problem is that this season’s transition has also seen veteran goalkeeper Kevin Trapp go to Paris FC, while three different players have already received minutes between the posts this season. Kaua Santos has been the preferred choice, but the Brazilian 22-year-old had to be given a vote of confidence after a blunder against Freiburg last weekend, and will be rested against Liverpool in favour of Michael Zetterer to give his confidence a chance to recover.
And how have they fared in the Champions League?
Frankfurt’s start in the Champions League could not have gone better with a 5-1 win over Galatasaray, but they followed that up with the same scoreline and a massive defeat away at Atletico Madrid. Another 5-1 seems very unlikely against Liverpool, but expect goals, especially with Can Uzun being one of the breakout stars of the season, becoming only the fourth teenager to score in five games in a row in Europe’s big five leagues this century.
Who are Eintracht’s key players? Is there anyone Liverpool fans should be keeping an eye out for in particular?
Can Uzun is the star attraction at Eintracht Frankfurt right now. The teenage attacking midfielder was at the centre of an international tug-of-war between Turkiye and Germany and has been compared to Bayern Munich’s Jamal Musiala. But with six goals in 10 appearances already this season, the 19-year-old is determined to be his own man: “I don’t want to be the best Jamal Musiala, I want to be the first Can Uzun.”
Jonathan Burkardt was also seen as Germany’s next No.9 before Nick Woltemade emerged at Stuttgart and now Newcastle, so is always dangerous, while Ritsu Doan and Jean-Matteo Bahoya are tricky, technical players capable of causing damage and scoring goals themselves.
Hugo Ekitike left the club in the summer to join the Reds. What kind of legacy did he leave behind? He appears to be thought of very fondly…
He is thought of so highly at Frankfurt that reports emerged this week in the German media that they could have kept him a while longer and made more money from him. He’ll be warmly welcomed back as he was a great servant to the club, hugely popular with fans, and helped the team get back into the Champions League.
And what is the view in Frankfurt ahead of this game?
The view in Frankfurt is that this will be a difficult game for Eintracht but that anything is possible with the rate the team has been scoring. Nobody expects a 0-0 or a tense, nervy game and this could be the opportune time for German hero Florian Wirtz to bag his first goal for Liverpool. A win is not overly expected but media and fans are looking forward to an entertaining, open game.
Could you give us an insight into how Dino Toppmoller sets up his side? What is his preferred style of play and formation?
Dino Toppmoller set up his team to be one of the most attacking units in Europe in 2024-25 and, despite losing both his strikers, has retained that approach this season. If anything, it has been turbo-charged as the best way to win matches for the Eagles is to score more goals than the opponent. This results in an extremely direct approach, with Frankfurt getting the ball quickly and the forward players dropping and switching positions to pull opposition defenders out of position. Toppmoller has mostly used a 4-2-3-1 and this is likely to be the approach against Liverpool.
Predicted XI: Zetterer, Collins, Koch, Theate, Brown, Chaibi, Larsson, Doan, Uzun, Knauff, Burkardt.
- Read more from Ronan Murphy on footballtransfers.com