On Wednesday evening, third-tier Saarbrucken hosts out-of-sorts Eintracht Frankfurt in the last-16 of the DFB Pokal.
Saarbrucken form guideThe home team has picked up 23 points in their 17 matches in the 3.Bundesliga. However, they head into this clash on the back of a five-game unbeaten run in all competitions, although they have had two straight draws against Duisburg and Preussen Munster.
Their recent undefeated record is based on a solid defensive foundation, as they have kept five straight clean sheets.
Saarbrucken has eliminated Karlsruhe and, most notably, reigning German champions Bayern Munich in this season’s competition. They will be looking to repeat the feat against another Bundesliga team.
The home team’s recent games in the competition have been high-scoring, with over 2.5 goals scored in five of their last seven matches in the DFB Pokal.
Eintracht Frankfurt form guideThe Eagles have hit a poor run of form of late, as a 2-1 weekend defeat at Augsburg last time out means that the visitors have suffered three straight defeats in all competitions, having conceded at least two goals in each of the losses.
In fact, Dino Toppmoller’s team has now conceded at least two goals in their last four competitive games.
Despite their poor recent form, Frankfurt has a good record in the DFB Pokal of late, recording back-to-back wins at Lokomotive Leipzig and Viktoria Koln, scoring nine goals and not conceding.
The Eagles have been highly prolific of late in the DFB Pokal, having scored at least two goals in seven of their last eight matches.
Eintracht have been strong on their travels in the competition, having collected five wins in their last six matches while scoring at least two goals in all five away wins.
What am I backing?Saarbrucken may have beaten Bayern in the last round, but I believe Eintracht Frankfurt will have too much quality for the home team.