Eintracht Frankfurt vs. 1. FC Köln preview: Debutant Wagner looks to end Riera’s streak | OneFootball

René Wagner will start his reign at the helm of Köln with a trip to Eintracht Frankfurt. The hosts are unbeaten at Deutsche Bank Park since the arrival of Albert Riera.

Eintracht Frankfurt

Albert Riera won his first three home games against Borussia Mönchengladbach, SC Freiburg, and Heidenheim without conceding a goal. On the contrary, Frankfurt have only had one point away from home since the arrival of the Spaniard boss.

The outspoken coach mounted the pressure on himself after his reflection on the late defeat to Mainz. With an eight-point gap between them and sixth-placed Bayer Leverkusen, they will probably miss out on either of the top two European competitions for only the second time since 2021.

Team News

Nnamdi Collins will most likely miss the rest of the season as he needs surgery to recover from an ankle injury he picked up in the defeat to Mainz.

1. FC Köln

Lukas Kwasniok is out of the door despite a late goal from Eric Martel saving Köln in the derby against Borussia Mönchengladbach. The 37-year-old Wagner is now expected to end the season as an interim coach.

Wagner was part of Kwasniok’s coaching team, and he was also an assistant coach during Steffan Baumgart’s memorable spell at the club. Before facing direct rivals Werder Bremen and St. Pauli, the Dresden-native will manage his first-ever game as a head coach on Saturday.

Team News

Köln are boosted with the return to full fitness of key players, but they will be without the versatile Martel as he was sent off minutes after scoring the equalizer in the derby before the international break.

Head-to-Head record

A 4-3 win at RheinEnergieSTADION in November ended Eintracht Frankfurt’s six-game unbeaten run in this fixture. After conceding inside the first five minutes, Dino Toppmöller’s led 4-1 before letting in two more in the closing stage of the game for a nervy ending.

Predicted Lineups

Eintracht: Zetterer; Amenda, Koch ©, Theate; Doan, Larsson, Brown; Götze, Uzun; Kalimuendo, Burkardt

Köln: Schwäbe ©; Sebulonsen, van den Berg, Simpson-Pusey, Lund; Krauß, Johannesson; Thielmann, Kaminski, El Mala; Ache