Professionals, 4. March 2021
Pellegrino Matarazzo’s team face a side “in top form” when they take on Frankfurt away from home at 15:30 CET this Saturday – despite the fact that the Hessians suffered their first league loss of 2021 at Werder Bremen last Friday. Eintracht had previously gone 11 Bundesliga matches without defeat (W9 D2).
The Eagles have “a lot of power, press well and play with a lot of courage and variability”, said Matarazzo at Thursday’s pre-match press conference, adding: “The recent defeat in Bremen will only give them more motivation to return to winning ways straight away.”
VfB are wary of Frankfurt’s attacking qualities in particular, with Eintracht having scored the third most goals in the division this season. “We’ll need to have a good structure, be compact and time our pressing very well so that the spaces are right,” said the Stuttgart boss, whose side have conceded just twice in their last three games. “We have defenders with the necessary toughness and speed of action.”
“We’ll need to remain active”
VfB are not lacking up front either, boasting the fourth most prolific attack in the Bundesliga with 44 goals. “Sometimes attack is the best form of defence – even if we can’t always press high,” said Matarazzo. “There will be periods when they pin us back. When that happens, we’ll need to remain active.”
It remains to be seen when Nicolas Gonzalez (muscle tear) will be able to return to first-team training. Saturday’s game against Eintracht also comes too soon for Erik Thommy (hip) and Lilian Egloff (bone oedema).