Preview: Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Hertha Berlin - prediction, team news, lineups

Hertha, meanwhile, could move outside of the Bundesliga's automatic relegation spots by securing an away victory.

Match preview

Although Frankfurt dropped to sixth place in the table last weekend, their head coach Oliver Glasner would almost certainly have taken two points from away trips to Freiburg and Bayern Munich.

Die Adler secured 1-1 draws in both matches, with Randal Kolo Muani scoring both of their goals. The France forward, who starred for his country at the World Cup in Qatar, caused havoc across most of the encounter at the Allianz Arena, drawing yellow cards from Dayot Upamecano and Matthijs de Ligt before bagging the crucial equaliser in the second half.

With fixtures against Darmstadt and Napoli in the DFB-Pokal and Champions League respectively to come within the next six weeks, Glasner will be keen to see his side grab all three points against a struggling side like Hertha on Saturday, with their return to Deutsche Bank Park increasing their chances of doing so.

Avoiding defeat in Munich last weekend ensured that the Bavarians remain only five points clear of Frankfurt at the top of the table, with four teams sandwiched in between the two clubs.

Everything is still to play for on three fronts at this stage of the season for Glasner's side, then, who appear to have taken real belief from winning the Europa League last May.

Hertha, on the other hand, are embroiled in yet another relegation scrap having lost all three of their games since returning from the World Cup.

While home defeats to Wolfsburg and Union Berlin were perhaps to be expected, their away loss to relegation rivals VfL Bochum in their first match back was a bitter pill to swallow and appears to have set the tone for their subsequent limp performances.

Indeed, Sandro Schwarz's side failed to score in their 5-0 and 2-0 defeats to Wolfsburg and Union Berlin respectively at the Olympiastadion, with the 44-year-old likely to be under significant pressure to turn results around quickly if he is to hold onto his job.

As such, it is certainly not the best time to be facing yet another side with Champions League qualification aspirations when they travel to Frankfurt on Saturday, but at some point, Hertha must start picking up results from unexpected places if they are to avoid finally succumbing to the clutches of the second tier for the first time in a decade.

Eintracht Frankfurt Bundesliga form:

W

W

D

W

D

D

Hertha Berlin Bundesliga form:

L

L

W

L

L

L

Team News

Frankfurt will remain without Eric Dina Ebimbe due to an ankle injury, while Marcel Wenig's metatarsal issue is likely to keep the youngster sidelined once more.

With Ebimbe unlikely to return until early April, and Luca Pellegrini and Christoper Lenz both blighted with injury issues throughout their careers, the hosts have moved to sign Philipp Max from PSV Eindhoven on loan in recent days. The left-back could make his full debut on Saturday.

Elsewhere on the pitch, Glasner could restore Daichi Kamada to his central midfield area after going with a more solid double pivot in the shape of Sebastian Rode and Djibril Sow at the Allianz Arena, with the former potentially making way.

Hertha, meanwhile, will travel without Rune Jarstein (not considered), Stevan Jovetic (knock), Agustin Rogel, Chidera Ejuke and Kelian Nsona (all knee), but Florian Niederlechner returned from a muscular issue to come off the bench against Union Berlin and could be thrown in from the start against Frankfurt.

Schwarz may prioritise defensive ability in the engine room by replacing Jean-Paul Boetius with Ivan Sunjic, who was dropped last time out after an awful team performance against Wolfsburg.

Eintracht Frankfurt possible starting lineup:

Trapp; Tuta, Smolcic, N'Dicka; Knauff, Kamada, Sow, Max; Lindstrom, Gotze; Kolo Muani

Hertha Berlin possible starting lineup:

Christensen; Kenny, Uremovic, Kempf, Plattenhardt; Tousart, Sunjic, Serdar; Lukebakio, Niederlechner, Richter

We say: Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0 Hertha Berlin

Frankfurt will have taken confidence from maintaining their unbeaten away record after two tricky away trips, and Glasner's side should have too much quality for their struggling opponents.

Hertha's slide down the table in recent years has been relentless and relegation is beginning to feel like an inevitable conclusion for them this season, even if there is still plenty of time for them to turn things around.

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