BUNDESLIGA fanatic Jonny O'Sullivan (@libero_the) oversees Tuesday night's tussle between Eintracht Frankfurt and Freiburg.
Eintracht Frankfurt v Freiburg | Tuesday 26th May 2020, 19:30 | BT Sport
The midweek Bundesliga fixture list is a treat that will be warmly welcomed from all football fans across the globe. With Der Klassiker kicking off at 5.30pm UK time on Tuesday, there is an interesting dessert in the form of Eintracht Frankfurt versus Freiburg immediately after.
With both teams heading into the game in a sketchy phase of their season, a massive three points are potentially up for grabs that needs to be grabbed with two hands.
The two-month COVID-19 break has not changed anything for Frankfurt. Every neutrals Bundesliga team of last season are a shadow of their former selves. Filip Kostic linking up with Ante Rebic, Sebastian Haller and Luka Jovic seems a distant memory.
Bas Dost has stunk Germany out on his return, Goncalo Paciencia is an effective sub while Andre Silva adds little firepower up top. In fact, central defender, Martin Hinteregger, is the club’s leading goalscorer this campaign.
Frankfurt have suffered heavy defeats at the hands of Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich following the league's resumption and, in all honesty,, both offerings have been nothing short of abysmal. The defending for Alphonso Davies' goal, in particular, sums up the commitment and desire that lies within the camp at Die Adler.
Now Adi Hutter’s outfit are on a run of games of five matches without picking up a point, conceding 18 goals in the process.
Frankfurt have conceded eight goals in their last two games and have defended woefully in the process. They are facing a side who are nine points better off in the table and are eager to return to winning ways.
The idea that Frankfurt are favourites in their midweek tussle may come with their reputation, rather than form or ability. In fact, only four teams in the league have suffered more losses than Die Adler in the league this term.
Freiburg fancied
This is the second game week in a row I have put faith in Freiburg and, admittedly, they did let me down on the weekend against a Werder Bremen that looked like they were lacking in confidence. However, having watched the second half, it was a minor miracle that they did not pick up all three points.
A 90th minute disallowed goal that looked perfect in real-time summed things up. The Black Forest club fired in 17 shots, won seven corners, enjoyed 64% possession and created countless attacking plays but it wasn’t enough to score.
Freiburg’s positive away performance against Leipzig was robbed by a superb Yussef Poulsen header and VAR chalking off a 90+ minute winner. This result last time on the road should be enough to gain enough confidence to shake off their poor result against Bremen and take advantage of a poor Frankfurt outfit.
On the road this season, Christian Streich’s side have not only drawn against Leipzig but against Leverkusen and Schalke, before all their players picked up injuries.
Freiburg have also only conceded two or more goals once in their last seven league games and have confidence knowing they can grind out a victory against their opponents. The reverse fixture saw the visitors pick up a hard-fought 1-0 victory.
Frankfurt may have scored two goals in their last match against Bayern, but this may largely be down to Bayern having eyes on Der Klassiker three days later. Slack defending from set-pieces allowed Hintregger to score twice.
Since the Bundesliga resumed, only two sides have managed to win on home turf – Bayern and Dortmund. It would be a surprise if this trend continued throughout the season, but the small sample size of the season so far would suggest that the main thing that seems to have changed in football during a pandemic is the loss of home advantage.
Best Bets
Eintracht Frankfurt v Freiburg – Freiburg Double Chance (19/20 SkyBet)
