Preview: Stuttgarter Kickers vs. Eintracht Frankfurt - prediction, team news, lineups

The visitors, meanwhile, are attempting to win Germany's domestic cup for the sixth time in their history.

Match preview

Stuttgart Kickers have reached one DFB-Pokal final themselves, when they lost 3-1 to Hamburger SV in the 1986-87 final, before agonisingly losing 2-1 after extra-time to Werder Bremen in the semi-final of the 1999-2000 campaign.

Die Kickers were briefly a Bundesliga outfit between those two seasons, but they were instantly relegated back to the second tier on both occasions in 1989 and 1992. Since then, they have generally flickered bewteen the second and third tier's of German football, although they now find themselves in the fifth tier after suffering relegation in 2018.

However, Mustafa Unal's side stunned Greuther Furth - who were relegated from the Bundesliga themselves last season - 2-0 in the first round of the DFB-Pokal to set up a mouth-watering tie against Frankfurt on Tuesday.

With Die Kickers riding high at the top of the Oberliga Baden-Wurttemberg division after 13 games, Unal will sense a major opportunity to create a piece of history in midweek, although promotion is obviously his main priority this season.

Frankfurt, who are representing Germany in the Champions League for the first time after their European exploits last season, head to Stuttgart fresh off a morale-boosting 5-1 win against Bayer Leverkusen at the weekend.

Their fellow Champions League opponents were all at sea once Daichi Kamada had broken the deadlock from the penalty spot in the fifth minute of first half injury-time, with the Japan international adding a second from the spot after the break alongside goals from Randal Kolo, Jesper Lindstrom and Lucas Alario during the rout.

The victory took Die Adler up to fifth in the Bundesliga table, although they are lagging bottom in Group D in the Champions League and are facing an early exit from Europe as a result.

In the meantime, head coach Oliver Glasner will be keen to add a second major trophy to the cabinet in only his second season in charge at the club, with Frankfurt looking to join Werder Bremen on six all-time DFB-Pokal wins behind Bayern Munich, who lead way out in front of the chasing pack on 20 in total.

Stuttgarter Kickers DFB-Pokal form:

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Eintracht Frankfurt DFB-Pokal form:

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Eintracht Frankfurt form (all competitions):

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D

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Team News

Stuttgart Kickers look likely to be without midfielder Nico Blank due to a calf injury, while forward David Braig is struggling with illness.

Captain Kevin Dicklhuber will lead the team out at Gazi-Stadion auf der Waldau, which should see a capacity crowd for the visit of a Bundesliga team on Tuesday.

Frankfurt, meanwhile, may travel without Jerome Onguene, Almamy Toure, Makoto Hasebe, Luca Pellegrini, Aurelio Buta and Ansgar Knauff due to injury.

As such, Glasner is incredibly short of defensive numbers, but he may look to rotate in midfield and attack given how heavy his side's workload is this season.

Stuttgarter Kickers possible starting lineup:

Castellucci; Moos, Zagaria, Kolbe, Polauke; Dicklhuber, Campagna, Kiefer, Riehle; Maier, Berisha

Eintracht Frankfurt possible starting lineup:

Trapp; Tuta, Smolcic, Ndicka; Chandler, Wenig, Rode, Ebimbe, Schroder; Borre, Alario

We say: Stuttgarter Kickers 0-3 Eintracht Frankfurt

Should Frankfurt heavily rotate as expected, Stuttgart Kickers may keep things tighter than expected given that these sides are four divisions apart.

However, with Glasner able to call upon strikers with the quality of Rafael Borre and Alario in reserve, it will surely be a comfortable away win in the end on Tuesday.

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