Eintracht Frankfurt-Darmstadt is a Bundesliga first day match and is played Sunday at 5:30pm: TV, lineups, predictions.
Eintracht Frankfurt has decided to bid farewell to Oliver Glasner, the coach who only a year earlier had helped them triumph in the Europa League.
The Austrian coach paid the price for an underwhelming season, in which the peaks were the round of 16 reached in the Champions League – lost, however, narrowly to Napoli – and the German Cup final, in which the Adlers surrendered 2-0 to Leipzig. The Rossoneri managed in extremis to finish seventh and nab Europe, but the minor one: the Conference League. In Glasner’s place came Dino Toppmoller, fresh from his experience as Julian Nagelsmann’s deputy at both Leipzig and Bayern Munich. Changes at the squad level, as usual, were few: Eintracht lost N’Dicka and Kamada for zero, while Sow ended up at Leipzig for 10 million euros. Among the most interesting signings was that of Dina Ebimbe, who arrived from Psg and was already in goal in the first round of the German Cup against Lokomotive Leipzig, to whom Kolo Muani and his teammates rifled seven goals last Sunday. Ngankam, a talented striker taken from Hertha Berlin, also ended up in the scorers’ table.
The derby with Darmstadt returns
For Eintracht Frankfurt fans, there could be no better Bundesliga debut: they will face newly promoted Darmstadt, another Hessian club that has set foot in the top flight again after six years.
Lieberknecht, Darmstadt coach
It is for all intents and purposes a derby, then. And a heartfelt one, too. The Lilien, that’s the club’s nickname – it refers to the fleur-de-lis in the coat of arms – are obviously aiming for that salvation they have managed to win only once on the four occasions they have gone upstairs. Last season they were promoted directly in a nail-biting finale that ended with the top three teams bunched within a single point. The first outings of Torsten Lieberknecht’s men, however, are far from encouraging: in friendlies they barely won on one occasion against an amateur outfit and a week ago they were eliminated from the German Cup, losing 3-0 to Homburg.
The prediction
Darmstadt’s disastrous first outing against a nonprofessional team in the cup suggests a comfortable victory for Eintracht Frankfurt. The goals are likely to be at least three.
Eintracht Frankfurt-Darmstadt likely lineups
- EINTRACHT FRANKFORD (3-4-2-1): Trapp; Koch, Hasebe, Pacho; Buta, Dina Ebimbe, Skhiri, Max; Lindstrom, Götze; Kolo Muani.
- DARMSTADT (3-4-2-1): Schuhen; Klarer, Zimmermann, Riedel; Nürnberger, Mehlem, Holland, Karic; Manu, Honsak; Hornby.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 3-0
