Big derby of this round and a direct fight for the positions that lead in the Champions League. Both teams are on those positions before this round, because Borussia is third and Eintracht has the same number of points, but the fourth place leads to qualifiers, while there are several more teams behind them on the table with a small backlog in points and therefore this match is very important for one and the other. Borussia is not in the bet shape and after three draws in a row, they have on Thursday lost a match in Europa League, and Eintracht continues to play very well and they have four wins in the last five games. The first duel of these rivals in Frankfurt ended with 2-2.
In the second part of the season, Borussie has recorded many unresolved results and wins in the series, and then they experienced their first defeat in this calendar year on Thursday. It was definitely not expected, because they met with Salzburg in Europa League and were certainly big favourites in that match. But instead of the win they wished for and the an easier rematch, they have suffered a 2-1 defeat and it is clear that they will have a very difficult task and will probably have to win with two goals difference.
Along with the problems they have faced in European competitions, there is also Bundesliga, where they have not been defeated for a long time but they played draws in the previous two rounds. A draw in Leipzig in the last round is even good, and compared to that team, coach Stoger has only refreshed the composition with Castro instead of Piszczek, who is now returning, while Akanji jumps on the center back and probably the recovered Philipp in the midfield.
Probable lineups Borussia Dortmund: Burki – Piszczek, Sokratis, Akanji, Schmelzer – Weigl, Dahoud – Reus, M.Gotze, Philipp – Batshuayi
Eintracht is at the top of the table and they are in a pretty good form, but they also suffer a defeat from time to time. Nothing unusual, because this team has so far shifted the plan for this season and no one expected them in the fight for placement in the Champions League. What has changed in the second part of the season is that they are not so good as guests, as they were in the first part when it was very difficult to overcome them.
They are now playing better in front of their supporters and proof of this are those two defeats in the previous two appearances against Augsburg and Stuttgart, while they have four wins in a row on their field, namely five if we count the Cup. In the last round they defeated Hannover with 1-0, and Russ and Gacinovic remained on the bench, and G.Fernandes and de Guzman played instead. Now Boateng and Gacinovic should be on the field from the first minute, instead of de Guzman and da Costa.
Probable lineups Eintracht Frankfurt: Hradecky – Abraham, Hasebe, Falette – Chandler, G.Fernandes, Boateng, M.Wolf – Gacinovic – Haller, Rebic
Borussia is struggling, and it is true that they rarely lose their games, but they often play draws and they receive goals even more often in every match. Eintracht is not very good away lately, but they are coming to this hosting relieved and we expect them to cause big problems for the host.
Pick: both teams to score
1.68 - 68/100