Home comforts will give Frankfurt the edge
Welcome to the shop window, Eintracht Frankfurt. On bare evidence they have one win in five, but that isn’t going to stop them bringing at least a goal advantage back to the bridge for the second leg.
Frankfurt the unknown
Being without Rebic and possibly Haller would make it a far greater task, but I expect the latter to play and between himself and Europe’s most sought after striker Luka Jovic, I think the odds of 15/8 about a home win could look very big come the end of 90 minutes.
These two sides are the leading goalscorers in the Europa League and in Olivier Giroud and the aforementioned Jovic, they can call on the top two marksmen in the competition also. Frankfurt boast an under rated home record. They have never lost a home game in the Europa League, winning nine and drawing two. Furthermore, they’ve only lost once at home in 2019 in all competitions and that was the game prior to the 2nd leg turnaround against Benfica last time out, so I am willing to forgive them that.
They have scored O2.5 in 19 of their last 22 Europa League games while Chelsea have scored at least twice in seven of their last eight European fixtures.
Predictable Sarri?
Chelsea have not escaped the injury bug, Hudson-Odoi, Rudiger and Willian are all expected to miss out. Hudson-Odoi has really shown his skillset in the competition and been a breath of fresh air but it has been the form of Rudiger which seen their defense solidify in the last two months, keeping four clean sheets in their last ten games. His loss is something Mauricio Sarri will have to be creative to overcome.
For the most part they have cruised to this stage of the Europa League and the rotation policy employed by Sarri has paid off. Whether he sticks to that and keeps the likes of Giroud in the team or reverts to type from his Napoli days, playing his trusted Premier League starters remains to be seen. This one choice could be the crucial decision in the first leg.
Eintracht Frankfurt - Chelsea betting tip
As outlined at the beginning of the piece. Frankfurt will come into this unknown to most English fans, with the possible exception of Jovic’s name. Neither team have enjoyed a great run in their last three games but are forgiven for having one eye on a European Semi-Final.
I think Frankfurt’s home record is too hard to overlook in this situation. I expect it to be a bit more cagey than normal with both sides known for scoring goals, this could be a game to get on the unders. I don’t want to be too complicated though, so I am going to stick with the latest odds of a home win at 15/8. Not as creative as I usually get but this value is just too good to pass up given the stats to hand.
