The magical SBU has struck again! On Tuesday evening, Adi Hütter’s team beat RB Leipzig 3-1 in front of their home crowd in the DFB Cup round of 16, underlining their own ambitions to repeat the title win from 2018. However, there is not much time for exuberant joy, because the next competitive game in the Bundesliga is on the program for the Hessians on Friday evening.
As part of the 21st match day, there will be a game between Frankfurt and Augsburg. According to the odds, the bookmakers assume that Eintracht can confirm the positive impressions from the previous matches after the winter break. From three games, the red, black and white posted a strong seven points and thus got rid of all the relegation worries that have arisen in the meantime.
There are several reasons why the home game against the Fuggerstädter is anything but a sure-fire success. On the one hand, the Hütter-Elf mostly had a hard time playing favorites this season. On the other hand, recent experiences against their own fans against the FCA have not been entirely positive.
The guests from southern Swabia have lost only one of the past six direct duels in the Commerzbank Arena. In connection with the fact that Florian Niederlechner and Co. were able to prepare for the encounter throughout the week, a tip on the underdog between Frankfurt and Augsburg is definitely worth considering.
Frankfurt:
Anyone who has seen Frankfurt’s Eintracht in the first four competitive games of the current calendar year should rightly ask why the 2018 cup winner does not occupy a place in the top six in the table, but instead sometimes even after a disappointing first half series not struggling with unjustified relegation worries.
After a good preparation in the USA, which the team of coach Adi Hütter was able to use optimally to recharge their batteries after a crazy year 2019 with well over 50 games completed, the eagle carriers got remarkable from the first three matches in the league seven points. Two three-pointers in Hoffenheim and at home against RB Leipzig were followed by a 1-1 draw in Düsseldorf.
In this game against the relegation candidates from the Rhineland, it became clear once again that the SBU has problems this season, especially when you are forced to take control of the action yourself.
As a supposed favorite, the Hessians afforded some dropouts, such as in the home game against Cologne (2: 4), against Hertha (2: 2) or against Bremen (2: 2). Against the top teams in the league such as Bayern (5: 1), Leipzig (2: 0), Leverkusen (3: 0) and Dortmund (2: 2), the DFB Cup quarter-finalist was in top form.
Certainly, the results listed are also responsible for the sixth best home team in the league (five wins, three draws, two bankruptcies) before the duel against Frankfurt. Augsburg is favored according to the odds.
In our opinion, the betting providers neglect, among other things, the fact that the SBU was still in a grueling cup game during the week and, moreover, hardly any other Bundesliga club has such a poor yield in front of their home backdrop as against FC Augsburg. In seven home games, only 1.1 points jumped out on average.
All in all, we would be careful to make a forecast of the home side between Frankfurt and Augsburg. The relatively low quotations contain no value, even if the kickers from the main metropolis have not lost on Fridays since 2013. In general, the appointment seems to be on the last working day of the week. There is no other way to explain the strong result of only one defeat in the last 17 Friday games (eight wins, eight draws).
Personnel must wait to see how the players coped with the Leipzig match. Sebastian Rode could be as bad as Bas Dost, who was already absent during the week. Marco Russ, Lucas Torro and Gelson Fernandes are long-term injured.
Augsburg:
In the classification, FC Augsburg currently even ranks ahead of Eintracht. While the Frankfurt team took 11th place with 25 points, those in charge in Fuggerstadt will certainly be very satisfied with position ten at the current time of the season.
Even more important, however, is the cushion from nine points to the first relegation zone, which gives the FCA a feeling of security. Strictly speaking, the gap to the European Cup places is even smaller, but manager Stefan Reuter and the other decision-makers are still far from correcting the objective.
This may also have something to do with the fact that the southern Swabians have a lot of air upwards, especially when they’re away. Only nine of the 26 points were collected abroad. There were only two successes in ten attempts. Nevertheless, a prognosis on the guest could pay off between Frankfurt and Augsburg, because only in Düsseldorf have Augsburg been more successful in the Bundesliga away than in the Commerzbank Arena.
In addition, the Fuggerstadt residents have the not to be underestimated advantage that they had a whole week to prepare for this match. The loss of substance that the Frankfurt team inevitably suffered could play into the cards of the fresh Augsburgers, especially since they fueled new confidence in the 2-1 draw against Bremen in the previous week after a 0-1 deficit.
Asta, Cordova, Giefer and Schieber are missing injured. Iago is still with the Brazilian U23 national team, which wants to qualify for the Olympic Games. There is also a question mark behind the use of keeper Koubek, who could again be replaced by Andreas Luthe. Instead of Jensen, a more offensive variant with Hahn or Finnbogason as the second tip comes into question.
