Ben & Rob's preview - Eintracht Frankfurt

Rob Daly

"I think it's a good thing that there is no time to dwell on Saturday, and back into it with another massive game in the Champions League. The loss to Sporting in MD2 has put pressure on, and I know Antonio Conte will always go for a win, but it's extremely important Spurs don't lose this match and give Eintracht Frankfurt the upper hand in the group before facing them again in London in MD4 next week. As I've mentioned before in previews, 10 points almost every single time will get you through the group, so I don't think a point would be a bad result here, a win would be excellent and would put the team in an excellent position with three games to go, two at home. Frankfurt lost their opening group game against Sporting but then got a really good win at Marseille, so they're on three points, like Spurs. They've won five of their last seven in all competitions and beat Union Berlin, who were unbeaten and top of the Bundesliga, on Saturday. That saw really nice link up play between Kolo Muani and Mario Gotze for a first half goal, although Gotze did come off in the second half with an ankle issue, so I wonder if he'll be available. Muani was also sent off in the second half. He's very quick, can breeze past players and made his debut for France during the international break. He'll be fresh for the games against Spurs. I do love the Bundesliga and I've seen the rise of Eintracht Frankfurt over the years from near relegation in 2016 to the appointment of Niko Kovac and some smart managers, smart signings... they've also lost key players, including Filip Kostic to Juventus, a massive loss, but they got Luca Pellegrini on loan back from Juve, and he nearly scored at the weekend. They play three at the back, wing-backs extremely important, one striker with two number 10s in behind. Jesper Linstrom also scored a great solo goal at the weekend, and my guess is that he will play off Muani alongside Japan international Daichi Kamada. They are very dynamic, very quick and they will fancy getting a result at home."

Ben Haines

"I totally agree with Rob in terms of moving on quickly. I don't want to dwell on Arsenal, but I've watched the game again, and I actually don't think it's all doom and gloom. Okay, we know what happened, but the thing that stands out to me is that if we were slightly more clinical on the counter, things might have been different. From a morale point of view, losing the derby is never great, but, as Rob said, we go straight into the Champions League. It makes more sense to look forward than look back. So, going into this one, I'd like to see us go for a win. If we could get a second win on the board, I know it's a gamble, but if we can get up to six points with two home games to follow, that would be perfect. We're kicking ourselves after losing late against Sporting Lisbon. I think, for that reason, I'm keen to see us get that win, then, in that scenario, we should need four points from two home games and one away, an ideal situation, especially with the fixtures coming thick and fast. In terms of Frankfurt, they play a similar system to us, three at the back. That will make it interesting, seeing who plays more on the front foot. They also play with 'inverted' forwards, Muani leading the line and forwards drifting in behind off their wings, which means it will be compact in that area, and you'd expect to see a game that relies on wing-backs to provide the creativity for both teams. Antonio Conte has some interesting decisions to make, for instance, Emerson Royal will now be suspended for the next three Premier League games, so I wonder if Antonio might mix it up a little."