Preview: At home against Köln

The backdrop

After making it through to the group stages of the UEFA Europa Conference League, Eintracht now find themselves back in Bundesliga action on Sunday 3 September at home to 1. FC Köln at Deutsche Bank Park (kick-off 15:30).

Eintracht currently sit on four points after a 1-0 win at home to SV Darmstadt 98 and a 1-1 draw away to 1. FSV Mainz 05. Köln, meanwhile, lost 1-0 at Borussia Dortmund and 2-1 at home to Wolfsburg, meaning that they are still to get off the mark this season.

For former Köln player Ellyes Skhiri, Sunday’s match promises to be an interesting one for a number of reasons, as the 28-year-old explains: “It’s a special game for me. A win will get us up to seven points and I obviously know the opposition very well. They play a strong and very intensive press, and we’ll need to be set up to combat that.” 

Off to a good start

Going back to last season, Eintracht are currently unbeaten in five, and are second only to Dortmund in terms of consecutive matches without a loss in the Bundesliga. The Eagles have four points so far in this campaign, and this is just the second time that the team has avoided defeat in either of their first two games of the season – 2020/21 being the other occasion, when Eintracht made it through the first four matchdays unbeaten before that streak ended against Bayern Munich.

Hasebe after another record

Frankfurt’s seemingly ageless Japanese veteran Makoto Hasebe is homing in on yet another milestone. Having missed out on the Mainz match due to illness, he should be back in head coach Dino Toppmöller’s squad against Köln, as he was against Sofia in midweek. If the 39-year-old sees action on Sunday, it will be his 229th Bundesliga appearance – a record for foreign players for Eintracht Frankfurt, level with legendary goalkeeper Oka Nikolov.