Preview: Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Bayern Munich - prediction, team news, lineups

Eintracht Frankfurt host Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga on Saturday, with the hosts able to move within seven points of the league leaders with a victory.

This match represents the two form sides of the division, having both taken 16 points from their last six games, as well as comfortably the two best offensive records.

Match preview

© Reuters

Indeed, Frankfurt have been in simply superb form over the past couple of months, with four straight wins taking them up to third in the table as they look to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in the club's history.

Adi Hutter 's side were comfortable winners in their 2-0 victory over FC Koln last weekend, although in truth they should have scored more goals than they did in a dominant display from the outset.

Only a combination of excellent goalkeeping from Timo Horn and uncharacteristically poor finishing by Andre Silva kept Koln in the game until Silva finally broke the deadlock in the 57th-minute after pouncing on a loose ball to score his 18th league goal of the season.

Filip Kostic was inspired once again, regularly finding Silva with his trademark crosses from the left flank, before the Serbian winger's corner helped Evan N'Dicka score his second goal in successive games to seal the three points.

While any hopes of the title are probably outlandish, if Hutter's side can win their fifth consecutive match against Bayern on Saturday, there is an outside chance of challenging if they can continue their current form.

© Reuters

In truth, Bayern are still likely to run away with the Bundesliga once again, but Hansi Flick 's side saw their lead ahead of RB Leipzig cut to five points last weekend after surprisingly dropping two points at home to Arminia Bielefeld in a pulsating 3-3 draw on Monday evening.

Having only recently returned from Qatar after winning the FIFA Club World Cup last week, Bayern would almost certainly have preferred more rest. This was only exacerbated by heavy snowfall providing torturous conditions throughout the first half.

However, credit to Arminia, Uwe Neuhaus 's side sensed a perfect storm against the Bavarians and duly capitalised on it. Debutant Michel Vlap smashed the visitors ahead after nine minutes before Amos Pieper scored his first Bundesliga goal with a powerful header to double their lead.

With the snow cleared off the pitch during the half-time interval, Bayern looked much more like themselves in the second period, with Robert Lewandowski 's world-class chest and swivel allowing him to get the world champions back into the game with a superb first-time strike. However, Christian Gebauer converted Andreas Voglsammer 's cross to restore Arminia's lead, before Corentin Tolisso and Alphonso Davies salvaged a point.

While Bayern's lead at the top of the table remains a healthy one, they can ill afford too many careless slip ups with Leipzig breathing down their neck. Saturday's match against Frankfurt may well have come at precisely the wrong time, with their defence unlikely to be able to cope with the likes of Silva and Kostic on current form.

Eintracht Frankfurt Bundesliga form: WDWWWW

Bayern Munich Bundesliga form: WWWWWD

Bayern Munich form (all competitions): WWWWWD

Team News

Frankfurt will be without Djibril Sow after the midfielder earned his fifth caution of the season during the win over Koln, with Sebastian Rode likely to come into the side as his replacement.

However, Hutter appears to have no injury issues to deal with, so is unlikely to change any other part of the side with it performing so well. That means Luka Jovic could be primed to make a huge impact from the bench.

Bayern, however, have considerably more selection issues, with Douglas Costa ruled out for the rest of the season with a broken ankle and Serge Gnabry unlikely to feature for a month due to a hamstring injury.

Thomas Muller remains unavailable due to his positive COVID-19 test, with Javi Martinez, Leon Goretzka, Alexander Nubel and Tanguy Nianzou all ruled out, too.

Benjamin Pavard and Joshua Kimmich should return to the starting XI in place of Bouna Sarr and Lucas Hernandez, with David Alaba returning to the back four.

Eric Choupo-Moting could be handed another opportunity behind Lewandowski.

Eintracht Frankfurt possible starting lineup:

Trapp; Tuta, Hinteregger, N'Dicka; Durm, Hasebe, Rode, Kostic; Kamada, Younes; Silva

Bayern Munich possible starting lineup:

Neuer; Pavard, Sule, Alaba, Davies; Kimmich, Tolisso; Sane, Choupo-Moting, Coman; Lewandowski

We say: Eintracht Frankfurt 2-2 Bayern Munich

This match promises to be an absolute cracker, with goals surely an absolute guarantee given both sides' offensive quality and defensive shortcomings.

Indeed, both teams are much more comfortable attacking than they are defending, with Bayern's raft of injuries increasing the likelihood of Frankfurt gaining a positive result.

Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting over 2.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.