Nurnberg vs Eintracht Frankfurt Predictions

Nurnberg took a few heavy knock downs over the weeks preceding the international break as a win at home to fellow promotees Fortuna Dusseldorf was sandwiched between 7-0 and 6-0 hammerings by Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig respectively. It’s becoming more and more evident that the Bavarians look out of their depth against the better sides in the Bundesliga and last weekend’s 3-1 defeat at home to Hoffenheim cemented that idea even further. Now with just eight points from eight matches, their target of survival looks a big ask. And while coach Michael Koellner might have got his side making the most of their “favourable fixtures”, this isn’t one of them.

Eintracht Frankfurt head into this on a high following three Bundesliga wins against Hannover 96 (4-1 at home), Hoffenheim (2-1 away) and Fortuna Dusseldorf (7-1 at home), and that’s before we tackle some inspiring Europa League performances. The return of 2018 FIFA World Cup finalist Ante Rebic has been key to their form, with the Croatian scoring three and assisting one for the Eagles since returning from injury. He missed last weekend’s thrashing of Dusseldorf due to suspension but makes his return here. Luka Jovic is the man to keep an eye on though as he became the first Frankfurt player to score FIVE goals in a single Bundesliga game last weekend. He’s also the youngest player ever to achieve this feat.

So where does that leave us ahead of this game? Well, even though Nurnberg have lost just once at the Max-Morlock-Stadion this season (W2 D1 L1), these matches were against much weaker opposition (Mainz, Hannover, and Dusseldorf). Nurnberg’s failure to hold their own in big fixtures does, therefore, make us fancy Eintracht Frankfurt’s chances on Sunday. Frankfurt are without a doubt the better side on paper and couldn’t really be in much better form in front of goal. Not only have they scored 13 over their last three Bundesliga outings – Jovic has bagged a whopping 7 of these – but the Eagles have also not failed to find the back of the net all season.

Following on from that, Nurnberg have conceded more goals than any team in the German top flight (19) and only two teams (Leverkusen and Wolfsburg) have allowed more shots on goal against them at home. Hence, expecting Frankfurt to get plenty of opportunity to keep that streak going isn’t too much of a ask. However, with Frankfurt lacking in the defensive department themselves – Adi Hutter’s men have kept just one clean sheet in the league so far – it wouldn’t be unreasonable to see Nurnberg get on the score-sheet either – in fact, both teams have scored in 85% of Frankfurt’s league outings in 2018/19. Going off this, the value has to be in adding both teams to score to our prediction that Frankfurt come away with three points. Our prediction: 3-1 Eintracht Frankfurt.