Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Borussia Dortmund: DFB-Pokal preview, team news & predicted lineups | OneFootball

Niko Kovač returns to the club he won the DFB-Pokal with as Borussia Dortmund eye a Round of 16 spot with a win over Eintracht Frankfurt.

Eintracht Frankfurt

Dino Toppmöller’s side suffered a heavy defeat at home to out-of-form Liverpool in the Champions League, but Jonathan Burkardt’s brace helped them to a win over St. Pauli on Saturday. The first win in three helped Frankfurt to climb to sixth, four points behind their Tuesday opponents.

In Toppmöller’s first couple of seasons, Frankfurt were knocked out of the DFB-Pokal in the Round of 16 stage by Saarbrücken and RB Leipzig. Before then, Oliver Glasner managed to reach the cup final, but he lost to Leipzig in his last game with Frankfurt.

That defeat means Kovač is the only coach to win the domestic cup with Frankfurt since the turn of the century. The Croat was able to take the Eagles to back-to-back trips to Olympiastadion against his future clubs. Frankfurt lost to Dortmund in 2017, but they ended a 30-year drought against mighty Bayern the following year.

Team News

Toppmöller surprisingly decided to use Can Uzun and Burkardt off the bench in the last Champions League game, but they will be expected to start this midweek fixture. Michael Zetterer could keep his place between the sticks after decent performances in the last couple of games, replacing Kauã Santos.

Borussia Dortmund

Kovač lost on his return to Allianz Arena on matchday 7, but he hopes for a different outcome on Tuesday. Last season, Dortmund were eliminated from the cup at this stage by another of Kovač’s clubs, VfL Wolfsburg.

However, it was Nuri Şahin who was at the helm back then. From what seemed like a lost cause at the time, Kovač managed to earn a Champions League qualification spot for Dortmund with 22 points from the last eight Bundesliga matches.

The Black and Yellows have also only lost once from the first eight league matches this season. The late win over Köln kept them in the top four, despite all their competitors also collecting three points. Dortmund also started the Champions League campaign with seven points, scoring four goals in each of their first three matches.

Team News

Frankfurt-born center-back Niklas Süle could earn a place in the starting lineup, while Julian Brandt will also fancy his chances after improved performances in recent weeks. The captain Emre Can and Julien Duranville remain on the sidelines with serious injuries.

Predicted Lineups

Frankfurt: Zetterer; Kristensen, Koch ©, Theate; Doan, Chaibi, Skhiri, Brown; Knauff, Uzun; Burkardt

Dortmund: Kobel; Anton, Schlotterbeck ©, Bensebaini; Yan Couto, Sabitzer, Nmecha, Svensson; Adeyemi, Brandt; Guirassy