Preview: A trip to Craven Cottage | OneFootball

All you need to know ahead of Eintracht’s friendly against Fulham.

The upcoming friendly against Fulham FC will not only provide head coach Dino Toppmöller with the opportunity to fine-tune the patterns of play Eintracht worked on during the ADIDAS U.S. TOUR, but also to establish new workflows following the departures of Hugo Ekitiké and Tuta.

That will involve continuing to integrate new attackers Jonathan Burkardt and Ritsu Doan. While the former took part in the club’s training camp, Japan international Doan only joined the club on Thursday – meaning he is in line for his Eintracht debut this Saturday at Craven Cottage (kick-off 17:00 local time / 18:00 CEST).

The clubs share similarities in that they are both long-standing institutions; Fulham were founded in 1879 while Eintracht recently celebrated their 126th anniversary. Furthermore, both are examples of stability in the modern game.  Eintracht enjoyed their most successful Bundesliga season in three decades in 2024/25 by securing a third-place finish, while Fulham likewise had their most productive campaign since the introduction of the Premier League, ending up on 54 points.

The West London club lost 2-1 against Atlético Madrid in the 2010 Europa League final in Hamburg under Roy Hodgson, but subsequently yo-yoed between the top two divisions in England until Marco Silva took over the reins and got them back on track in the Premier League. The Portuguese head coach is the third longest-serving tactician in the division after Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta,

Much like Eintracht, Fulham have kept the majority of their squad together. They have only made one summer signing so far, bringing in experienced goalkeeper Benjamin Lecomte from Montpellier.

The Cottagers have not played as many pre-season friendlies as the Eagles, posting a 3-1 win over Nottingham Forest and a 4-2 loss against Al-Ittihad. Their first competitive game of the season is on 16 August away to Brighton & Hove Albion on Matchday 1 of the Premier League campaign.

Eintracht have only ever faced Fulham once before, winning 1-0 thanks to a Haris Seferovic effort in a friendly in Austria in July 2015.