Opposition Preview: Eintracht Frankfurt | OneFootball

On Thursday, Tottenham will face Eintracht Frankfurt in the first leg of the UEFA Europa League quarterfinals. The Europa League is the final chance this season for Tottenham to win the long-elusive trophy Spurs fans have been searching for since 2008, and may be the final chance for Ange Postecoglou to prove himself worthy of keeping his role as manager. In this article, we'll take a look at how our opponents have been performing so far this season.

Eintracht Frankfurt's Europa League Campaign

Eintracht Frankfurt finished an impressive 5th place in the Europa League League Phase, finishing just a single point behind 4th place Tottenham. This impressive performance included wins over Beşiktaş, RFS, Slavia Prague, Mitjylland, and Ferencvaros. (lost to lyon and roma, drew viktoria plezn) Tottenham faced common opponents in Ferencvaros and Roma, and Spurs were able to draw Roma while Frankfurt faced a 2-0 loss at the hands of the Italian side.

While Frankfurt managed well during the League Phase, most of these matches fell before the January transfer window, when the German club lost their leading goalscorer in the competition, Omar Marmoush, to Manchester City. In fact, their 2-0 loss to Roma occured after the departure of Marmoush. However, even without their star attacker, Frankfurt were able to defeat Ajax 6-2 in the Round of 16.

Eintracht Frankfurt's Bundesliga Campaign

Frankfurt currently sit 3rd in the Bundesliga table, a strong position made possible by their hot start to the season. This hot start was heavily fueled by the now-absent Marmoush, who managed 15 goals and 9 assists in just 17 matches. Those 15 league goals are still good for 3rd most in the Bundesliga, even though Marmoush has not suited up for his former club since January.

However, since his departure, Frankfurt have started to fall short of 2nd place Bayer Leverkusen. The gap currently sits at 14 points, while the gap below to 4th place Mainz 05 is just 2 points. Frankfurt's current league form also leaves much to be desired, with 3 losses in their last 5 matches. Two of these losses come against teams currently sitting in the bottom half of the Bundesliga. While certainly better than Tottenham's league performance this season, Frankfurt's campaign has not been free of challenges.

Players to Watch

While Frankfurt are without star forward Omar Marmoush, there are still plenty of difference makers on the German squad. Here are some players to watch out for across this tie.

Hugo Ekitike

In the absence of Marmoush, Frankfurt have looked to French striker Hugo Ekitike as their main goalscoring threat. While some may question his finishing ability, Ekitike's speed allows him to find himself in scoring chances incredibly often. He has accrued an impressive 22.69 expected goals across 40 matches in all competitions for Frankfurt this season. However, Ekitike has only managed to score 19 goals this season, even with this amount of opportunity. Nonetheless, Etitike is a goal threat who commands attention from the Tottenham defense.

Nathaniel Brown

The 21-year old Brown was purchased from FC Nürnberg last January, and after a loan back last season, has slotted right into the Frankfurt side at left back. Brown has been an impressive creative threat for Frankfurt this season from his fullback position, creating 30 chances and picking up 4 assists in 25 matches in all competitions this season. However, the young fullback has not just contributed to the side in attack this season. Brown has been solid defensively, ranking in the top 40% of defensive actions among fullbacks according to FotMob. Although not a huge aerial threat, Brown has still managed to win 60% of his duels this season. Tottenham have to keep an eye on the versatile Brown if they want to get through this tie unscathed.