Eintracht Frankfurt and Tottenham Hotspur lock horns again for the return leg of their Europa League quarter-final tie at Deutsche Bank-Park on Thursday night.
The sides are level at 1-1 after the first leg in North London last midweek, but the pressure is much stronger on Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou, who needs success in this competition if he is to save his job.
Match preview
It was the worst possible start for Spurs last week, when Hugo Ekitike put Frankfurt ahead inside six minutes, but the hosts grew into the game and eventually equalised before the interval through Pedro Porro.
Frankfurt's inexperienced stopper Kaua Santos proved to be an impenetrable force in the visiting goal though, keeping Spurs at bay throughout the second half, and earning his side a valuable draw ahead of the second leg.
Dino Toppmoller's side built on that with a morale-boosting 3-0 win over Heidenheim at the weekend, serving as the perfect preparation for the visit of Tottenham this midweek.
That marked a third straight home win for Frankfurt at home, and moved them five points clear inside the Bundesliga's top four, with Champions League football now looking a near-certainty, even if they do not win this competition.
The Eagles are even better at home on the continent, having won four in a row here this season, including the 4-1 thrashing of Ajax, as well as routine League Phase wins over RFS, Slavia Prague and Ferencvaros, all without conceding.
Courtesy of that, Frankfurt enter the second leg as favourites to advance to a third Europa League semi-final, which could make them just the third team to achieve that feat, after Sevilla and Manchester United.
SGE have only won one of their five previous meetings with Spurs in Europe, and that came all the way back in 1982, but it was in a quarter-final of the Cup Winners' Cup, coming out 2-1 winners.
History does not bode well for Spurs entering this fixture, because they have lost on six of their last seven trips to Germany in the knockout stages of a European competition, failing to score in four of the last five.
The most recent of those outings came in the last 16 of the Champions League in 2020, when RB Leipzig convincingly swept them aside 3-0, and the fact they failed to win the first leg at home is even more cause for concern.
Spurs' dramatic semi-final win over Ajax in the Champions League in 2019 is the only occasion in the last 10 where they have still advanced from a European tie after failing to win at home in the first leg, and five defeats from their last seven on the road in Europe goes some way to explaining why they are the slight underdogs here.
A 4-2 defeat to Wolves at the weekend made it six defeats from seven away games across all competitions for Postecoglou's men, and resulted in them dropping to 15th, now sitting just two points above 17th in the Premier League table.
Postecoglou simply must win this competition, because the league position they currently occupy would have seen him sacked much earlier, had it not been for their prospects in cup competitions.
Team News
After welcoming Can Uzun and Elye Wahi back to the squad in attack over the past week, Frankfurt will remain without the important Ansgar Knauff due to a knee injury for this clash.
Goalkeeper Santos was the star man in the first leg, and he should start again with Kevin Trapp still recovering from a shin injury, and Jens Grahl not registered to play in Europe.
Oscar Hojlund came in to play at the weekend with the likes of Hugo Larsson and Mario Gotze rested with this game in mind, but the Dane is also unregistered so will not play any part in this second leg.
Spurs skipper Son Heung-min is a doubt for this clash with a foot injury which ruled him out of the defeat at Wolves, and means he may miss the chance to set a new club record number of appearances in Europe with 68, but Postecoglou does believe he will be fit enough to feature.
Wilson Odobert played no part at the weekend, but that was just to protect the Frenchman ahead of this clash, while Porro, Destiny Udogie and Micky van de Ven were all left on the bench at Molineux.
Dejan Kulusevski made a welcome return at the weekend, and could be thrown in from the start here, especially if Son is absent, but Kevin Danso and Radu Dragusin will remain sidelined in defence.
Eintracht Frankfurt possible starting lineup:
Kaua Santos; Kristensen, Koch, Theate, Brown; Shkiri, Tuta, Larsson; Gotze, Ekitike, Bahoya
Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:
Vicario; Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie; Bergvall, Bentancur, Maddison; Johnson, Solanke, Son
We say: Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur (Frankfurt to win 3-2 on aggregate)
Frankfurt have become experts in this competition over the past few years, winning it in 2022, and reaching the semi-finals in 2019, and they are in good form, so are well worth their favourites tag heading into the second leg.
Spurs have been dismal on the road both domestically and in Europe of late, and missed the chance to take an advantage into this return leg, so the odds are certainly stacked against them on an evening which could seal Postecoglou's fate.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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