Tottenham Hotspur head into this Europa League quarter-final clash against Eintracht Frankfurt looking to save their season. A disappointing 14th in the Premier League and having been knocked out of the FA Cup, this is their only chance of winning a trophy this season. It is also their only chance of playing in Europe next season.
They face a Frankfurt side currently sitting in third in the Bundesliga. They are having a strong campaign, but go into this game off the back of a 2-0 defeat to Werder Bremen. This broke a three-match winning run. This doesn’t tell the whole story though as they have stuttered since selling striker Omar Marmoush to Manchester City in the January transfer window.
Tottenham defeated Southampton 3-1 in their last game but question marks still remain over the future of manager Ange Postecoglou. Their 1-0 loss to Chelsea last Thursday saw Spurs denied a point due to VAR as well as the Tottenham fans booing Postecoglou’s substitute decisions.
All is not well in north London, with Spurs looking likely to finish outside of the top 10 of the Premier League for the first time in 17 years.
TOTTENHAM VS EINTRACHT FRANKFURT PREVIEW
Tottenham have the slight edge in the head-to-head record, winning two of the four matches between the two sides. They met in the group stage of the Champions League in 2022. Spurs won their home match 3-2 following a goalless draw at Deutsche Bank Park.
The other two meetings took place in the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1982. These were the only knockout games between the teams, with Spurs won 3-2 on aggregate.
Spurs struggled in the last round against AZ Alkmaar and were lucky to leave the Netherlands with just a goal deficit. However, a 3-1 win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium saw them progress 3-2 on aggregate.
At the same time, Frankfurt were cruising to a 6-2 aggregate win over Ajax, a 4-1 home victory sealing the deal.
Despite this, Spurs were impressive in the group stage of the competition, finishing fourth. They are third-favourites to win this season’s Europa League. However, need to navigate past Frankfurt then potentially Lazio to reach the final.
This is Spurs’ first European quarter-final since 2019, but Frankfurt’s third Europa League quarter-final in six years. The German side lost the first leg of both of their last quarter-finals yet still progressed to the semis.
Timo Werner will not feature in this game as he’s not in Spurs’ Europa League squad.
Rodrigo Bentancur will return from the suspension that saw him miss the second leg against AZ.
Richarlison could feature more after returning from injury. Radu Dragusin is out for the remainder of the season with an ACL tear. Dejan Kulusevski and Kevin Danso are both likely to miss this tie too.
Nnamdi Collins will return from suspension for Frankfurt, while Igor Matanovic could also feature after playing at the weekend following a two-month layoff.
Oscar Hojlund and Junior Dina Ebimbe aren’t registered, while Ansgar Knauff and Elye Wahi are both injured.
An injury to Kevin Trapp and Jens Grahl being unregistered may mean Frankfurt look to the inexperienced Kaua Santos in goal.
Timothy Chandler is missing with a hamstring issue, but Can Uzun could be back after being ill.
TOTTENHAM VS EINTRACHT FRANKFURT – PREDICTIONS
Tottenham Win
Spurs will know they need a result to take to Germany and the home crowd will be passionately behind them. They comfortably beat AZ at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the last round. They are also unbeaten at home in their last three games.
Draw
Frankfurt haven’t drawn a game in two months. Spurs’ last stalemate was a 2-2 affair against Bournemouth on 9 March. However, the two sides are quite evenly matched and could cancel each other out.
Eintracht Frankfurt Win
The Europa League is very much Eintracht Frankfurt’s competition. They won it in 2022, beating Rangers in the final, and have only lost twice in their last 23 Europa League games. They beat Ajax away in the last-16 clash, while they also recently defeated Bochum on the road too.
TOTTENHAM VS EINTRACHT FRANKFURT – BETTING TIPS
Tottenham Win
Spurs have home advantage and Ange Postecoglou will know his side will need a good result to take to Germany. Eintracht Frankfurt’s form has dipped since Marmoush left to join Man City. With an inexperienced goalkeeper too, I’m backing Spurs to claim a narrow win.
Both Teams To Score
Both teams scored in the second legs of both Spurs and Frankfurt’s last-16 matches. In Hugo Ekitiké, Frankfurt have one of the top scorers in the Bundesliga. Despite this, they are still missing Marmoush’s profligacy in front of goal. Frankfrut scored six in the last round and Spurs three.
HEAD-TO-HEAD AND KEY STATS
- Tottenham and Eintracht Frankfurt have played each other four times, with Spurs winning twice. Eintracht have won once and there has been one draw.
- Spurs have won three of their last four games in the Europa League, but have lost three of their last six games in all competitions (W2 D1).
- Eintracht Frankfurt have won four of their last six games in the Europa League, as well as four of their last six in all competitions.
- Eintracht Frankfurt have only lost two of their last 23 Europa League games.
- Eintracht Frankfurt have only won five of their last 13 matches in all competitions.
