Scottish side, Aberdeen, will play in their first European match (that isn’t a qualifier) since 2007 when they travel to Frankfurt on Thursday. The visitors are the heavy underdogs and Eintracht Frankfurt will be confident that they can pick up three points.
Frankfurt
Eintracht Frankfurt seem to be the master of the low scoring game this season as each Bundesliga tie has ended with less than three goals. Dino Toppmoller’s side are unbeaten in the opening four games but they have drawn 75% of them 1-1, which is disappointing when you glance at their opponents so far. Their only victory was also a 1-0 win, underlining the fact that scoring goals is an issue that needs addressing.
One of the main reasons why Frankfurt have struggled in front of goal is because they lost their star player, Randal Kolo-Muani this summer, who scored 15 goals and registered 11 assists last campaign. The now PSG player’s replacement seems to be Omar Marmoush, who they signed on a free from Wolfsburg and he will be desperate to start firing consistently for his new side.
Aberdeen
Barry Robson’s Aberdeen have had a horrific start to the Scottish Premier League season and they sit second from bottom, without a win. They are in the Europa Conference League after losing in the UEFA Europa League playoff round to Hacken and their only victory in eight games was against Stirling Albion in the Scottish League Cup.
Even though the players and fans will be up for the occasion, the difference in quality between the two sides is huge and the odds reflect that, with Aberdeen priced at 18/1 to win the tie. Their only approach will be to deploy a low block and attempt to counter attack Frankfurt, but even then, I don’t expect them to get much joy at all.
Verdict?
Even though Frankfurt are struggling to get over the line in games this season, I fully expect them to win comfortably on Thursday and anything other than a dominant performance will be seen as a failure. For Aberdeen, the performance may be more important than the result.
The final prediction is Eintracht Frankfurt 3-0 Aberdeen.
