A gala night like against Gala? Why Frankfurt could stun Liverpool too | OneFootball

The start to the new Champions League season could not have gone better for Eintracht Frankfurt. In front of a sold-out Deutsche Bank Park, the SGExpress mercilessly swept aside Galatasaray 5–1. And that despite the Süper Lig club having been one of the main players in the transfer market last summer and significantly strengthening their squad.

Gala showed that quality on Matchday 2 of the Champions League as well, when they celebrated a surprising 1–0 win over Liverpool FC, one of the co-favorites for the big-eared trophy. The Reds were visibly impressed in the Istanbul cauldron. Their own game seemed inhibited.

Liverpool’s star-studded ensemble can expect a similar atmosphere now in their clash with Eintracht at Deutsche Bank Park. If the decibel meter is bouncing again, Frankfurt will once more rely on their home support to spring another surprise.

International clashes, unforgettable nights – learn more about Deutsche Bank Park here!

Ideally, of course, with a gala like against Gala. Looking at Eintracht’s CL schedule this season, the Eagles will in any case be relying on taking down one of the big boys if they want to have a say in reaching the knockout phase. So why not on Wednesday?

Return of Ekitiké

Against any other team, Hugo Ekitiké would surely wish Frankfurt just such a successful and intoxicating European night, but the Frenchman now returns to the Main metropolis wearing the shirt of the next opponent.

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And not only because of his 1.90-meter frame is he likely to pose the biggest problem for an SGE defense that hasn’t been entirely solid this season. Unlike other star signings such as Florian Wirtz or Alexander Isak, Ekitiké has already shown he can be a goal threat in a Reds shirt.

Five goals and an assist in eleven games underline his value to Arne Slot’s team, which, despite certainly justified big ambitions, still seems to be in a period of finding itself. LFC arrives at Deutsche Bank Park with heavy baggage. Most recently, they suffered four painful defeats in a row (Crystal Palace, Galatasaray, Chelsea, and Manchester United). Liverpool last experienced such a negative run 14 years ago.

Liverpool not in form for some time

In general, the seemingly successful league start on paper with five wins from five somewhat glossed over the Reds’ problems. This is also borne out by an Opta analysis of the first five Premier League matchdays. At the start of the season, Liverpool were among the biggest overperformers by a wide margin in Expected Points (comparing Expected Goals and Expected Goals Against per match). Their 15 actual points contrast with a statistically expected 8.6 points. In other words, they collected two more wins than would have been expected based on chance quality.

This is mainly due to the at times chaotic closing stages of those games. In the opener against Bournemouth, Federico Chiesa and Mo Salah only put Liverpool on the road to victory after the 88th minute. Against Newcastle, the 16-year-old Rio Ngumoha scored in the tenth (!) minute of stoppage time. In the top clash with Arsenal, it took a piece of magic from Dominik Szoboszlai from 25 meters into the top corner (83’), at Burnley Salah rescued his team three points in the 95th minute, and even in the Merseyside derby against Everton, Slot’s side only convinced for one half and were begging for an equalizer right to the end. In the most recent hat-trick of defeats, the rub of the green wasn’t on LFC’s side for the first time this season.

With an energy performance like against Galatasaray, Eintracht can certainly be trusted to seize the moment and land another body blow on the heavyweight boxer from across the channel.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.

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