Not new, but different

Frankfurt preview
Niklas Moisander and Werder expect a tough game on Saturday. (photo: nordphoto)
preliminary report
Thursday, 24.01.2019 / 18:32

Sold out stadium. Top game. Under the floodlights. The first game of the year at the Weser-Stadion is coming up. The opponents for matchday 19 come from Hessen and are called Eintracht Frankfurt. Kick-off is on Saturday from 18:30 CET and the two teams both fighting for a place in Europe will face each other. This preview will run through Kohfeldt’s tactical analysis of their opponents, which players are available for Saturday and his starting XI.

The last game: On matchday 2, Werder played their first game of the season in the Commerzbank-Arena, Frankfurt. This game was a game to remember for the away side as Kohfeldt’s team took the lead in the 25th minute after a dream ball from Maximilian Eggestein to Yuya Osako, who finished with aplomb. Shortly after, Frankfurt had a player sent off as Jetro Willems received his marching orders. Werder were the team on the front foot but were unable to double their lead before half-time. The second half began with a surprise for SVW. A misplaced header by Ludwig Augustinsson resulted in Jiri Pavlenka taking out Frankfurt midfielder Mijat Gacinovic, who also injured the SVW keeper. Luca Plogmann entered the fray for the injured Pavlenka but was unable to save the resulting penalty by Sébastien Haller. Although Werder had many chances to take the lead again, they were unable to, until in the 97th minute, Milot Rashica scored a sensational freekick to ensure that all three points went to the away team. This was their first victory of the season.

Johannes Eggestein is available again for Saturday (Foto: nordphoto).

The head coach on the game: The omens this time however, are quite different to the previous game. At the beginning of the season, Frankfurt had just come off a cup triumph. “Although the players are the same, they will come here with a different self-confidence. They have changed their system, are flexible going forward and come at you fast,” Kohfeldt said at the press conference on Thursday. “They press you really hard, but that means they risk being open at the back. We will have a suitable answer to their game.”

Personnel: Florian Kohfeldt declared at the press conference that “all players are fit and ready for the game on Saturday.” Johannes Eggestein returned to training this week after recovering from a light ankle injury. Yuya Osako is not available due to being at the Asia Cup.

Florian Kohfeldt and Thomas Horsch a clear plan for the Frankfurt game (photo: nph).

The opponent: Eintracht Frankfurt currently have 30 points after 18 games and are sat in fifth place. Last Saturday, Frankfurt beat SC Freiburg 3-1. As well as doing well in the Bundesliga, Frankfurt have been doing well in Europe, winning all six of their group stage games in the Europa League. Eintracht Frankfurt face Shakhtar Donetsk in the knockout round. The opponents have a busy schedule ahead of them, having to play in Bremen, Dortmund, Leipzig and Gladbach in a short space of time. Hopefully their first slip up will be on Saturday.

Players to watch: Frankfurt have a magic trio upfront. Ante Rebic, Sébastien Haller and Luka Jovic have the best stats going forward in the league. Together, they have scored 29 goals, the same amount as the whole SVW team. Kohfeldt understands the threat of the Frankfurt team and notes that the three are “distinguished by their different playing styles, which makes them strong.” The Werder team will have to work together in order to stop them. “You cannot beat them one-on-one so the boys have to defend as a team,” said Kohfeldt.

The referee: Markus Schmidt is the referee. His assistants are Christian Gittelmann and Markus Schüller. The fourth official is Dr. Martin Thomsen.  

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