Eintracht Frankfurt’s poor defending against Union Saint-Gilloise in their Europa Conference League first leg saw them concede two goals after leading 2-0.
Will our algorithm predict Frankfurt’s defence capitulate again versus Union in the second leg of their last-16 playoff tie?
Union Saint-Gilloise continue to improve as a football club. After narrowly missing out on the Belgium Pro League title last season, the Canaries are the runaway leader in the league this term.
Final training session ahead of tomorrow night's showdown 🔛🔥#SGE | #SGEUSG pic.twitter.com/phtR1Vh9YX— Eintracht Frankfurt (@eintracht_eng) February 21, 2024
Final training session ahead of tomorrow night's showdown 🔛🔥#SGE | #SGEUSG pic.twitter.com/phtR1Vh9YX
However, they must still contend with the Pro League’s four-team championship playoff round. Still, this is a club that was playing second division football just a few years ago.
Union are unbeaten in their last six league matches. Their come-from-behind 2-2 draw against Frankfurt in the first leg should give the team confidence that they can go toe-to-toe with a Bundesliga club. That draw did come at home, however.
The first leg saw Frankfurt jump out to a 2-0 lead after 10 minutes thanks to Fares Chaibi and Sasa Kalajdzic.
However, Union’s Mathias Rasmussen and Gustaf Nilsson scored on either side of halftime to achieve the draw.
Playing in Frankfurt could be a different story. Yet, Eintracht are not in the best of form ahead of the fixture.
The Eagles failed to win their last two league matches, losing once and drawing twice.
Last Sunday’s fixture against Freiburg was indicative of the club’s performances under first-year coach Dino Toppmoller.
Leading 3-2 late in the fixture, Frankfurt’s defence allowed an 89th-minute goal to give Freiburg a 3-3 draw.
Indeed, all of Freiburg’s goals came after Eintracht had gone into the lead. The defence’s inability to hold a lead will surely be on their mind against Union.
Union are led in goal scoring stats by forward Mohamed El Amine Amoura.
The Algerian forward has 19 goals this season in all competitions. Swedish forward Nilsson has 11 goals in all competitions.
Toppmoller won’t have Kalajdzic available after the striker injured his knee against Freiburg at the weekend.
Forward Omar Marmoush is having his best season in front of goal. He scored 14 goals in 26 appearances in all competitions to lead Frankfurt in scoring.
Winger Ansgar Knauff is a budding star. The former Dortmund man scored twice at the weekend and has eight goals in all competitions.
Will Frankfurt’s firepower be enough? It is unlikely to be against Union. The Eagles could once again blow a lead for a second straight game, as our AI score prediction picks a 2-2 draw.