After the home win over Holstein Kiel at the weekend, Maximilian Eggestein said SCF have “two difficult away games” ahead this week. He’s probably right. The first sees them take on the league’s third-placed side, Eintracht Frankfurt. Then, they will travel to Champions League side VfB Stuttgart. According to Eren Dinkci, whose shot was deflected home for the opener against Kiel, the matches will be “two great away games at two great stadiums.”

Like SC, Eintracht have a strong home record. At the Deutsche Bank Park, head coach Dino Toppmöller’s side have won four, drawn twice and lost just once this season. On top of that, they have Omar Marmoush – a name that’s been rarely out of the headlines in recent days. In the space of half a year, Marmoush has developed into one of the best strikers in the Bundesliga and beyond. At the weekend, he scored yet another vital goal for Eintracht, netting his 14th of the season. Only Bayern’s Harry Kane has more. His goal against St. Pauli was also the fifth time that the 25-year-old Egyptian has put his team ahead in a match.

“A good challenge”

Aside from their in-demand striker, the rest of the Frankfurt team have also impressed their fans. The Hesse-based side are flying high in the table and are again on track for Europe. They have also recorded their second-best Bundesliga points total at this point since the introduction of three points for a win, behind only 2022/23. SCF head coach Julian Schuster said there is “a good challenge ahead of us. We’ll have to defend against a lot of quality again.” Schuster also emphasised that “we have to do that all season, whether we’re behind, drawing or leading.” The team would also rather avoid an end to the game like in the match against Kiel, when SC conceded twice in the final stages after having taken a 3-0 lead. “We have to stay focused after going ahead,” added Dinkci.

Freiburg’s last win over Eintracht was almost three years ago. SCF last came away with three points against Frankfurt back in April 2022. There have since been three draws and one defeat. There were just two days to prepare between the matches against Kiel and Eintracht. “We have to be able to switch off, but then also get back to 100 percent straight away,” said Dinkci. His coach agrees. “We can win a lot of games if we recover well.”

Photo: Achim Keller