Ends Union’s monster series on the Main?
It is rare that the three best scorers in the Bundesliga face each other in a direct duel. But this Saturday it will be the case. In Frankfurt Eintracht’s match against Union Berlin, the paths of Daichi Kamaida, Randal Kolo Muani and Sheraldo Becker will cross. While the two Eagle bearers have been involved in seven and six of their team’s goals respectively, the Dutchman in the service of the capital club leads the league-wide ranking with nine scorer points.
Whether these three protagonists will again play a leading role at the weekend will become clear from 15:30 at Deutsche Bank Park. That’s when the whistle blows for the match between Frankfurt and Union Berlin. According to the odds, the chances are not bad that the reigning Europa League champions will inflict the first league defeat on the leaders of the German top flight. The 2.30 on the home victory implies a probability of 42%.
It is no secret that Urs Fischer’s men have been able to spring a few surprises this season, contrary to many assumptions. Nevertheless, the Eisernen have a complicated task ahead of them, as the SGE have also shown increasing form recently and have only lost one of six home games against the cult club from Köpenick in professional football. This makes it all the more difficult to make a prediction on the outcome of the match in the duel between two German European Cup representatives, Frankfurt and Union Berlin.
Frankfurt – statistics & current form
In recent years, Eintracht Frankfurt have not necessarily been known for starting a new season particularly successfully. In 2022/23, too, it looked as if it would take a little time before all the cogs clicked into place at the Europa League winners. However, after only two points on the first three matchdays, the Hessians have won three of the last four matches and have thus made the best start to the season since 2019/20 with eleven points. They are currently in seventh place in the standings.
However, the SGE has still not finally got to grips with its home weakness at national level, which can hardly be ignored. Even in the four home games of the current season, only one win was achieved – the 4:0 against a tired Leipzig team. There were painful defeats against Wolfsburg (0:1) and Bayern (1:6), and a disappointing 1-1 draw against Cologne. No other first division club has had to swallow more home defeats in the calendar year than the Black-White-Reds (seven). Incidentally, there have never been more than the aforementioned seven defeats in a year at home.
Once again many goals with Eintracht participation?
With this in mind, we would be cautious about betting on a home win between Frankfurt and Union Berlin. It is far more likely that the strong offensive will also score at least one goal against the Eisernen. With 14 goals scored, Eintracht has the third-best attack in the Bundesliga. Only in one of seven matches did the kickers from the Main metropolis fail to get on the scoreboard.
However, this positive aspect is closely linked to a negative downside, because the 13 goals conceded equally correspond to the third-worst value of all 18 first division teams. In general, 27 goals in only seven Bundesliga matches involving the SGE are an extremely high number. With an average of just under four goals per match, it’s certainly not a bad idea to go for the odds on “Both score” or “Over 2.5” between Frankfurt and Union Berlin.
This is due in no small part to the Glasner team’s in-form attacking players. Not only Kamada and Kolo Muani, who were mentioned at the beginning, have been very effective and eager to play in recent weeks. A certain Sebastian Rode is also acting as a goal scorer in an unusual manner. The defensive midfielder scored once in each of the last two games. Buta, Lenz, Onguené and Touré are absent due to injury. Jakic’s deployment is in serious jeopardy.
Predicted Frankfurt line-up:
Trapp – Tuta, Hasebe, Ndicka – Pellegrini, Rode, Sow, Knauff – Kamada, M. Götze – Kolo Muani
Last matches played by Frankfurt:
Bundesliga
17/09/2022 – VfB Stuttgart 1 – 3 Eintracht Frankfurt
Champions League Grp. D
14/09/2022 – Marseille 0 – 1 Eintracht Frankfurt
Bundesliga
10/09/2022 – Eintracht Frankfurt 0 – 1 VfL Wolfsburg
Champions League Grp. D
07/09/2022 – Eintracht Frankfurt 0 – 3 Sporting CP
Bundesliga
03/09/2022 – Eintracht Frankfurt 4 – 0 RB Leipzig
Union Berlin – Statistics & current form
Union Berlin have been leading the Bundesliga for a few weeks now. As the only unbeaten team, the Eisernen are deservedly at the top of the table, even though there are numerous categories in which coach Urs Fischer’s team is nowhere near the top of the national league.
In terms of possession, Union ranks 17th, as well as in sprints per game and passing rate. Only four teams have an even weaker tackling rate and fewer shots on goal. On the other hand, they are in first place in terms of fouls committed. A major German football magazine ran the headline “A different kind of league leader” for a reason.
It’s not pretty, but it’s successful
However, this is in no way meant to diminish their achievements so far, because the bottom line for coach Urs Fischer’s charges is five wins and two defeats. 17 points have already been recorded. In fact, the capital club has not lost any of the past 14 (!) Bundesliga games (eleven wins, three draws). The sensational momentum is therefore definitely a reason to make a prediction in favour of the visitors between Frankfurt and Union Berlin.
Alternatively, it is conceivable to bet on both teams scoring goals, even though Fischer’s team currently has the best defence in the Bundesliga with four goals conceded. In fact, they have only conceded one goal in three attempts away from home. Keeper Rönnow, who as is well known has a Eintracht past, has kept his clean sheet twice in a row. However, the Europa League participants have never had three clean sheets in a row in their own Bundesliga history.
Personnel-wise, Urs Fischer, who extended his contract early during the week, is spoilt for choice this weekend. As of now, all of the national team players have returned safely to Köpenick, so that all of them are indeed ready for action. The Swiss coach therefore has some tough decisions to make. However, he will roughly orientate himself on the starting line-ups that were successful against Cologne and Wolfsburg. In addition, top scorer Sheraldo Becker and his congenial partner Jordan Siebatcheu are set up front.
Projected line-up of Union Berlin:
Rönnow – Baumgartl, Knoche, Diogo Leite – Trimmel, R. Khedira, Ryerson – Thorsby, Haberer – Jordan, Becker
Last matches played by Union Berlin:
Bundesliga
18/09/2022 – Union Berlin 2 – 0 VfL Wolfsburg
Europa League Grp. D
16/09/2022 – Braga 1 – 0 Union Berlin
Bundesliga
11/09/2022 – 1. FC Köln 0 – 1 Union Berlin
Europa League Grp. D
08/09/2022 – Union Berlin 0 – 1 Royale Union Saint-Gilloise
Bundesliga
03/09/2022 – Union Berlin 1 – 1 Bayern Munich
Frankfurt – Union Berlin Direct comparison / H2H-Balance
This is the seventh time these two clubs have met in the Bundesliga. Eintracht have won three of the previous six matches, while Union have also drawn one and won two. In the most recent three direct first league encounters, the home team has won in each case. Also not unimportant is the fact that in five of the six encounters, including all three SGE home games, both teams have always scored goals.
Frankfurt – Union Berlin Tip
Before Eintracht Frankfurt and Union Berlin face important international tasks in the Champions/Europa League on Tuesday and Thursday respectively, they will meet in a direct duel in the Main metropolis in Hesse on Saturday afternoon as part of the eighth Bundesliga matchday.
Although the Eisern have been leading the Bundesliga table for around a month, the bookmakers do not necessarily expect the SGE to record their sixth win in their eighth league match. Between Frankfurt and Union Berlin, higher betting odds are offered on the away treble than on the home win. The Black-White-Red are thus being given slight advantages, which is surprising in that no other team has conceded more home defeats than Glasner’s eleven in the calendar year 2022.
Bottom line, therefore, placing a bet on the three-way market is not our preferred option. Instead, in the Frankfurt vs. Union Berlin clash, we are playing the bet that both teams will score.
