Teams that are going in different directions lately are set to lock horns at Commerzbank-Arena in Frankfurt. Eintracht team has stringed together four games without a defeat and they are coming off from a 1:1 road draw at Mainz that followed a 2:2 home draw against Dortmund. Werder on the other side is winless after ten rounds and they are surpassing the awful 2016 start when they recorded eight defeats in first eleven rounds. The team is coming off from another scoreless home loss, this time against Augsburg (0:3) and fans’ despair is constantly growing bigger.
Neither of these squads have any appearances in the European team competitions this season, making them a suitable round 11 openers after a soccer-filled midweek. Let’s take a closer look.
Eintracht Frankfurt vs. SV Werder Bremen
Three-Way: 1: Eintracht Frankfurt -115; X: +287 Draw; 2: SV Werder Bremen +420 at BetDSI Sportsbook
Spread -0.5: Eintracht Frankfurt -123; SV Werder Bremen +120
Total +2.5: Over +106; Under -111
EINTRACHT FRANKFURT
After a bumpy start of the season, The Eagles are slowly raising their form after they’ve managed to snatch two consecutive wins in rounds 7 and 8 against Stuttgart at home (2:1) and against Hannover 96 on the road (2:1). The 2:2 draw in the round 9 against then leader Borussia Dortmund was well deserved and it proved that Frankfurt team has enough strength to carry on with the strongest teams in the league. Last weekend’ draw against Mainz could be seen as a setback but I’m sure that coach Niko Kovac can be very satisfied when his team ends the road trip without a defeat.
The team currently ranks at No. 10 spot in the league table with a 4-3-3 record (1-1-2 at home) and 15 points earned after ten games. Their goal difference is 11-10 (5-6 at home) and 50% of their matches had over 2.5 goals in total while 25% of their home duels had over 3.5 goals in total. They’ve managed to score at least one goal in both halves in 20% of their matchups while they also managed to concede at least one goal in both halves in 30% of their games. Both teams scored in only 20% of their overall duels. Another interesting fact is that Eintracht team has scored at least one goal in each of their last 8 matches and 36% of their overall goals scored came after the 75th minute of the match.
Coach Kovac prefers the 3-5-2 scheme with Falette, Abraham, and Salcedo in front of goalie Hradecky, and Wolf, Gacinovic, Boateng, Stendera and Willems as midfielders. Rebic and Haller operate mostly as centre-forwards. Sebastian Haller and Ante Rebic are the team’s leading scorers with four and three goals while Kevin-Prince Boateng, Luka Jovic, and Marius Wolf have one each so far. Haller and Wolf are also top assisters with two each while passing segment belongs to defender David Abraham with 299 total passes. Goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky has 122 shots against, 27 saves and three clean-sheet games at the moment while Gelson Fernandes has three yellow cards so far making him the most undisciplined player of the team. Also, Simon Falette besides two yellow cards, has one red card.
Timothy Chandler (meniscus) and Omar Mascarell (Achilles tendon) should be back in training around New Year while Kevin-Prince Boateng’s (groin), Yanni Regasel’s (back) and Alexander Meier’s (ankle) status is unknown. Noel Knothe (foot) is listed as day to day while Danny Vieira da Costa (thigh) should be back in few days. Makoto Hasebe (knee), Talb Tawatha (knee), Jonathan De Guzman (muscle) and Gelson Fernandes (thigh) are all back in training.
SV WERDER BREMEN
The SV Werder Bremen team is in the unwanted company of few that hasn’t yet recorded a win in the Bundesliga this season, or to be more precise, the only team besides them in this group is FC Koln. If the White-Greens don’t record a victory on Friday they will surpass that horrible start of the 2016 season when they recorded only seven points after 11 rounds. Grim clouds are above Weser Stadium and something obviously needs to change because the hole that they’re digging for themselves is becoming deeper and deeper.
Currently, they rank at the No. 17 spot with only five points earned, three less than the first team above the relegation line (SC Freiburg). Their current record is 0-5-5 (0-4-1 on the road) and they score only 0.30 goals per match (least in the league) while they concede 1.20 goals per game (3-12 goal difference). Werder is also the team with most goalless games so far (three) and only two of ten matches had over 2.5 goals in total while no game yet had over 3.5 goals in total. Also, in two matches they’ve managed to concede at least one goal in both halves while both teams scored in only 30% of their overall duels. Only positive thing that we can say about this team is that they’re undefeated on the road in last four games, which all ended in draws.
Head coach Nouri prefers the 3-4-1-2 scheme but there might be some kind of change in order because it’s not working very well at the moment. Usual starters are Bauer, Sane, and Moisander in the defensive line and Augustinsson, Delaney, Eggestein and Gebre Sallasie in front of them as defensive midfielders. Junuzovic usually operates more up front while Belfodil and Kruse have only attacking assignments. Fin Bartels, Thomas Delaney, and Lamine Sane are the authors of three goals scored so far while passing segment belongs to defender Ludwig Augustinsson with 328 total passes. Goalie Jiri Pavlenka has 146 shots against, 45 saves and three clean-sheet games while Florian Kainz holds the title of most undisciplined player with four yellow cards.
On the bright side, Werder team doesn’t have many injury woes because only two guys that are out at the moment are Justin Eilers (cruciate ligament injury) who is expected to be out until at least early January next year, and Jerome Gondorf who is having some problems with his shoulder and is listed as day to day.
Eintracht Frankfurt vs. SV Werder Bremen – Match Prediction
The hosts in this match have been more successful in last season’s matchups between these two foes, recording a 2:2 draw at home and 2:1 win on the road. Having in mind both teams recent form, a home win by Eintracht sounds right but bear in mind that Werder’s nefarious streak of games without a win must end once. I’m not saying that it will happen on Friday but under 2.5 goals in total sounds like a lot less risky move and that will be my initial pick here. When it comes to the final result I’m also keener to the draw than a win by either of squads.
My pick: Under 2.5 goals (-111)
Additional Pick: Draw (+287)
