Eintracht Frankfurt will be determined to remain in the top four when they return to action in the Bundesliga against Schalke 04 on Saturday.
Schalke, meanwhile, are four points adrift at the bottom of the table having lost 10 of their 15 league games this season.
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After sensationally winning the Europa League last season, Oliver Glasner continues to scale greater heights at Frankfurt, having taken them through to the knockout stages of the Champions League while maintaining a push to finish inside the Bundesliga's top four positions.
Die Adler's 2-1 win away to Sporting Lisbon on the final matchday saw them pip their opponents and Marseille into second spot in Group D, although they will start their last-16 tie against runaway Serie A leaders Napoli as huge underdogs.
Domestically, meanwhile, four wins from their last six games prior to the domestic season being paused for the World Cup in November saw Glasner's side move ahead of Union Berlin into fourth spot on goal difference.
As such, the former Wolfsburg boss will be determined to see his players comfortably dispatch the worst team in the division on Saturday, which could see them climb as high as second in the table ahead of tricky fixtures against Freiburg and Bayern Munich within the coming week.
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Despite allowing former Hoffenheim and Arminia Bielefeld boss Frank Kramer just 12 games in charge after replacing him with Thomas Reis in their managerial dugout in October, Schalke failed to see any tangible improvements as a result of the switch.
Reis lost three of his four league games prior to the World Cup, with his solitary win coming at home against Mainz 05 via Simon Terodde's third league goal of the season, illustrating the 34-year-old's struggles to convert his prolific strike rate from Germany's second tier to the elite level.
However, Reis will hope that two months of preparation will stand his side in good stead for the huge task of avoiding relegation which lies in front of them, although no wins from three friendly matches in January is not exactly the greatest sign of an imminent turnaround.
With back-to-back fixtures against Champions League representatives Frankfurt and Leipzig this week, the Royal Blues could find themselves even more stranded at the foot of the table should the likes of Hertha Berlin and Stuttgart pick up positive results in that timeframe.
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Frankfurt will remain without Tuta and Marcel Wenig due to foot injuries, but otherwise Glasner appears to have a fully-fit squad available to select from.
Randal Kolo Muani should be buoyed after starring for World Cup finalists France in Qatar, with the 24-year-old's hard running and selflessness in attack crucial to his side's game plan, as has been evident by him laying on nine assists for his teammates in 13 league starts this season.
Schalke, on the other hand, have a whole host of absentees ahead of their trip to Hesse, with Maya Yoshida, Sebastian Polter, Thomas Ouwejan, Leo Greiml, Justin Heekeren (all knee), Niklas Tauer (muscle), Alex Kral (back), Rodrigo Zalazar (ankle) and Sepp van den Berg (ligament) all expected to remain sidelined for the visitors.
Dominick Drexler and Marcin Kaminski are both doubts, too, due to illness, potentially leaving Reis incredibly short of options as he looks to turn his side's form - and precarious position in the table - around as quickly as possible.
Eintracht Frankfurt possible starting lineup:
Trapp; Jakic, Hasebe, Ndicka; Ebimbe, Sow, Kamada, Knauff; Gotze, Lindstrom; Muani
Schalke 04 possible starting lineup:
Schwolow; Brunner, Kolodziejczak, Matriciani, Mohr; Latza, Krauss; Karaman, Mollet, Bulter; Terodde
We say: Eintracht Frankfurt 3-0 Schalke 04
We expect Frankfurt to return to action with a comfortable victory against Schalke, particularly if the visitors are indeed missing as many players through injury and illness as they appear likely to be.
The hosts will have a young striker bullish to prove his domestic and international form this season has been sustainable, with plenty of midfielders behind him capable of chipping in with goals and assists, too.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Brett Curtis
