Eintracht Frankfurt host Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga on Saturday with the visitors looking to bounce back from last weekend's surprise home defeat to FC Koln.
The hosts, meanwhile, can move within three points of their forthcoming opponents in the table with a victory.
Match preview
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It has been a stop-start campaign for Frankfurt so far, having failed to make serious upward trajectory in the table after drawing six of their opening nine matches, with five of those draws coming in their last six games.
The fact that Adi Hutter's side have only lost once this season - to Bayern Munich - illustrates that they are undoubtedly a tough side to beat, but Frankfurt's defensive shortcomings are repeatedly preventing them from winning. Indeed, zero victories in their last seven league matches is certainly not what you would expect from a side possessing as much talent as they do.
Their defensive frailties were evident once again in last weekend's hugely-entertaining 3-3 draw with Union Berlin, particularly when conceding two goals in the opening five minutes. A terrible mistake from Kevin Trapp, with the Germany goalkeeper spilling a cross into the path of Robert Andrich under no pressure, was compounded by Union Berlin forward Taiwo Awoniyi clumsily being brought down in the penalty area. Max Kruse may have missed his first Bundesliga penalty in 17 attempts in his previous match, but lightning was never likely to strike twice and so it proved with him doubling his side's lead.
However, two strikes from Andre Silva moved the Portugal striker to joint-third in the Bundesliga top goalscorers chart, but more importantly ensured Frankfurt were level heading into the break. Bas Dost looked to have won it after a second assist of the game from the superb Daichi Kamada, before Kruse struck from range to leave both sides with a point to take home.
Having conceded 16 goals in their opening nine matches - more than any other side in the top-half - Hutter must ensurethat his defence is switched on against Dortmund on Saturday.
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After pegging Bayern back by two points on the previous matchday, Lucien Favre will have been devastated by the double blow of his side's shock 2-1 defeat at home to FC Koln last weekend followed by the injury to Erling Braut Haaland in training on Tuesday.
Koln had failed to win any of their opening eight matches, but two goals from corners either side of half time gave Dortmund a mountain to climb. Koln's tactic was clear: hit Marius Wolf, ironically on loan from Dortmund, at the near post, with the 23-year-old's flick-on's finding Ellyes Skhiri at the back post for simple finishes on both occasions.
BVB rallied as you would expect, with Thorgan Hazard pulling one back with a bending finish after cutting inside from the left flank, but Haaland had his head in his hands after somehow missing from three yards after Marco Reus showed excellent awareness and accuracy with his cut-back for the Norway striker. Haaland seemed reluctant to use his weaker right foot, instead awkwardly opting for the outside of his left, agonisingly skimming the ball wide.
With 17 goals in 13 matches for Dortmund this season, however, the 20-year-old can easily be forgiven, especially with BVB rocked by the news that the Golden Boy award winner is likely to miss the remainder of the calendar year with a torn muscle sustained in training earlier this week.
Favre now has a real job on his hands to get his side to get back to winning ways this weekend in order to avoid losing any further ground on their title rivals, with his job made slightly easier by securing progression to the Champions League knockout stages with one game to spare courtesy of the 1-1 draw to Lazio in midweek.
Eintracht Frankfurt Bundesliga form: DLDDDD
Borussia Dortmund Bundesliga form: WWWLWL
Borussia Dortmund form (all competitions): WLWWLD
Team News
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Hutter remains without Ragnar Ache (hamstring), Jetro Willems and Felix Irorere (both fitness), with Aymen Barkok also absent due to coronavirus.
Having Filip Kostic back in the side has been a huge boost to Frankfurt's creativity in recent weeks, with the Serbian's dribbling and crossing ability from the left flank always a danger to any side.
Haaland is likely to be out of first-team action until the New Year with a hamstring tear, meaning that Reus may be tasked with filling the void in attack. Haaland's shoes are certainly big ones to fill with 10 Bundesliga goals to his name already this campaign.
Thomas Meunier is also likely to be out against Frankfurt with a muscle tear, with youngster Mateu Morey and veteran Lukasz Piszczek competing to replace the Belgian, while Marcel Schmelzer (knee) and Reinier (coronavirus) remain unavailable.
There was some good news, at least, with Mats Hummels indicating the ankle injury which forced him to limp off against Lazio should not be too serious.
Eintracht Frankfurt possible starting lineup:
Trapp; Abraham, Hinteregger, N'Dicka; Durm, Ilsanker, Sow, Kostic; Kamada; Dost, Silva
Borussia Dortmund possible starting lineup:
Burki; Can, Hummels, Akanji; Morey, Witsel, Dahoud, Guerreiro; Sancho, Hazard; Reus
We say: Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 Borussia Dortmund
With Haaland out and Frankfurt having had considerably more rest than their opponents, we think the hosts can gain a first league win since early October in what should be an entertaining affair.
While Dortmund are clearly not a one-man team, they do lack a focal point without their top goalscorer, so Favre may look to play less expansively and hope to grind out a narrow victory. Hummels's fitness will be key in this regard.
Top betting tip
Brett Curtis
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Borussia Dortmund win with a probability of 61.44%. A draw had a probability of 19.6% and a win for Eintracht Frankfurt had a probability of 19.01%.
The most likely scoreline for a Borussia Dortmund win was 1-2 with a probability of 9.67%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (8.19%) and 0-1 (7.28%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (8.6%), while for a Eintracht Frankfurt win it was 2-1 (5.08%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with an 8.6% likelihood.
