Preview: The next toughest opponents | OneFootball

Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer Leverkusen have been moving in lockstep in 2025 and are set for a top encounter in every sense of the word on Saturday.

Backdrop

Kiel, Munich, Leverkusen; Munich, Kiel, Frankfurt: Eintracht and Bayer 04’s schedules in the last two weeks of February have almost mirrored each other. While both the Eagles and the Werkself beat Holstein Kiel, respectively doing so 3-1 and 2-0, the balance of power shifted against FC Bayern. Bayer dominated Bayern in their 0-0 draw, Eintracht were dominated by Bayern in a 4-0 loss.

On Saturday, third-placed Frankfurt host second-placed Leverkusen on Matchday 24 of the Bundesliga. Kick-off at Deutsche Bank Park is at 18:30 CET.

Current form

Even though eight points currently separate Eintracht from the reigning German double and Supercup winners, the two sides have been almost in lockstep so far in 2025. Frankfurt have collected 15 points in this calendar year, Leverkusen 18. They’re also the only two out of the eight German clubs that started in European competition to have qualified directly for the round of 16 in the UEFA Europa League and Champions League respectively. From next week, Eintracht take on AFC Ajax while the German champions meet the German record champions from Munich.

Combined 100 goals

In this context, there’s further proof of goals being guaranteed at the weekend, as the top three in the Bundesliga have also scored the most goals this season in the same order: 69, 51 and 49. That means altogether there’ll be a combined 100

A true test

It doesn’t seem to matter to the visitors where they score their goals. Last weekend, Xabi Alonso set a new record as a coach of 28 consecutive Bundesliga away games without defeat. Leverkusen are hard to beat overall: since their last loss on the road at Bochum on the final day of the 2022/23 campaign, the Werkself have lost just once in the league, at home to Leipzig on 31 August 2024.

After the game in Munich, Eintracht defender Arthur Theate said: “Obviously we’re disappointed, but tomorrow it’s back to work. Sometimes you get beaten, then you have to keep your head up. It wasn’t good, we know that, but one defeat doesn’t make everything bad all of a sudden. The next match will be different again.”

Sporting director Timmo Hardung has a similar view, telling EintrachtTV: “We can expect similarly strong opponents, but who play a little differently. We need to prepare for that. In front of a home crowd at our stadium, with the support of our fans, it’s tough for other teams too.” And the stats back that up: the Eagles have lost just one of their last 16 home games in all competitions – and they want to extend that run against Leverkusen.