“We can go there with confidence” | OneFootball

Ahead of the Eagles’ trip to Leipzig, Dino Toppmöller talks about the opposition, his team’s own qualities and the current personnel situation.

Eintracht’s visit to Leipzig on Saturday 6 November at 18:30 CET headlines Matchday 13 of the Bundesliga.At his pre-match press conference, head coach Dino Toppmöller spoke about…… the state of play: “We’re in third place in the form table for the last five matches, one above Leipzig. Of course we’re aware of the size of the task. Leipzig aren’t second by accident and they can generate a lot of attacking power. They’ve won all their home games so far, including the cup. But we can also go there with confidence because we’ve shown in recent weeks that we’re in good form in the Bundesliga.”

… the opponents: “Leipzig have a very good structure in attack. They’re very dangerous on both wings with Yan Diomande, Antonio Nusa and Johan Bakayoko. The full-backs also get involved a lot. It won’t just be a case of controlling Christoph Baumgartner, who makes a lot of forward runs and is hungry for goals. It’ll be important to have a handle on everything and defend well collectively.” 

… personnel: “With the exception of Jonny Burkardt, we could have everyone available. Thankfully Hugo Larsson and Can Uzun returned to training on Thursday and could be options for Saturday. We’ll make the final decision after training on Friday.”

… Eintracht’s forward line: “We’re leaving all possibilities open. Michy Batshuayi showed against Wolfsburg that he has a good presence, he held the ball up well. Being good in transition doesn’t just require pace. It also works with a target man and having speed in the positions behind.”

… external perception: “The performances against Atalanta and Wolfsburg weren’t good enough and weren’t what we envisioned. Nevertheless, we also have to remember the things that we’ve done extremely well up to now: we’ve scored the second most goals in the Bundesliga, are unbeaten in six Bundesliga matches and have shown that we can dominate to an extent away from home. It’s important that we stay true to ourselves. We certainly need to show a different side of ourselves than in the previous two home matches. We always conduct a lot of conversations, both in highly successful periods and after the two recent setbacks.”