FEATURE | 3 Eintracht Frankfurt players to watch out for against Liverpool | OneFootball

Eintracht Frankfurt continue their Champions League campaign against Liverpool on Wednesday. Both teams head into this fixture in unconvincing form, with the hosts only winning one of their last five games, while the Premier League side has now lost four games in a row.

However, die Adler are a young side and is still learning, but with their strong start to the season, several players have caught the eye with their performances and should be ones to look out for on Wednesday night.

3 Frankfurt players to watch

Can Uzun

The Turkish international has been Frankfurt’s best player in the opening stages of the season. With six goals and four assists in 10 games this season, he is already beating his tally from last campaign. This has seen the Regensburg-born forward significantly overperform his NPxG (via FBref), with an expected tally of 1.4 NPxG

What has helped Uzun perform is the change in formation.

Last season, he was shoehorned into Dino Toppmöller’s 11 as it was favoured towards Omar Marmoush and Hugo Ekitiké. Now, Toppmöller has made the switch to a 4-2-3-1, and this has benefitted Uzun as he now gets to play in the 10 behind the striker, usually Jonathan Burkardt.

If the 19-year-old can maintain his form, there is already talk that he could be the next big Frankfurt sale.

Nathaniel Brown

Uzun’s friend and former Nürnberg teammate has also begun to take strides in his development.

Last season was Brown’s breakthrough for Frankfurt as he became a regular at left-back. In that season, he scored three and assisted six. It brought him into the periphery of the national team, but he would not make his debut until this October international break, where he came on and made an eight-minute cameo against Luxembourg.

Brown can not only cross a ball, but he is also strong defensively. Against Bayern Munich, he was tasked with marking Michael Olise and was able to handle the task to keep the Frenchman somewhat quiet.

Farès Chaïbi

Now, midfield is a bit of a problem for Frankfurt from a defensive point of view as neither Chaïbi or Hugo Larsson are defensive midfielder, and Ellyes Skhiri is not getting any younger.

However, it has not stopped Chaïbi from experiencing a career revival of some form.

Last season, it looked as if he was surplus to requirements at Deutsche Bank Park and was set for the exit door, but in the summer, the change in formation meant a change of position for the Algerian. Chaïbi has spent most of his career as an attacking midfielder or a winger, but under Toppmöller he has been used in the midfield two in Frankfurt’s 4-2-3-1, usually next to Larsson.

The comparison feature on FBref suggests that the 22-year-old is similar to Declan Rice in playstyle, which may give you somewhat of an idea of how Chaïbi has played this season, but he has been more attack-minded than the Englishman.

Honorable mentions

Other players to keep an eye on are Chaïbi’s midfield partner Hugo Larsson. There is a lot of hype around the Swedish international, and he could be another one of Frankfurt’s next big sales.

Nmandi Collins has said his favourite player is Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk and can play not only as a centre-back but also as a right back.

While in attack, there are Jean-Mattéo Bahoya and Jonathan Burkardt. The former struggled in his first 18 months with Frankfurt, but has finally found his feet on the left wing. While Burkardt is Bundesliga proven and has fitted into the Frankfurt 11 like a glove, at the weekend, he scored a double against SC Freiburg in a 2-2 draw.

GGFN | Jack Meenan