Stuttgart vs Eintracht Frankfurt

A place in the DFB-Pokal grand final is up for the taking as Stuttgart and Eintracht Frankfurt meet in a semi-final tie at the Mercedes-Benz Arena.

Deeply embroiled in a feisty Bundesliga relegation scrap, Stuttgart could see their DFB-Pokal assignment as a welcoming distraction from their league turmoil. After squeezing past second-tier Nurnberg 1-0 in the quarter-finals, ‘Die Schwaben’ are looking to book their DFB-Pokal showpiece tickets since a runner-up finish in 2012/13. That victory forms part of Stuttgart’s decent-looking five-match unbeaten streak in all competitions (W3, D2), bookended by a survival-boosting 2-1 win against Borussia Mönchengladbach last weekend. Sebastian Hoeneß’s men have an excellent opportunity to pick up some silverware, especially with a bunch of prominent sides already waving goodbye to the competition. Moreover, history favors Stuttgart, as they hold a perfect record of two wins in two H2H home encounters against Frankfurt in DFB-Pokal.

Both those matches saw Frankfurt go down 3-2, highlighting the potential for an action-packed contest. And with each of their last six competitive H2Hs seeing both teams on the scoresheet, the possibility of a goal-glutted affair is most definitely on the cards. However, since dispatching Union Berlin 2-0 in the previous DFB-Pokal round, Oliver Glasner’s men have experienced a drop-off, alternating between drawing (2) and losing (2) in their last four Bundesliga matches. Owing to that rotten spell of form, the visitors head into the final four top-flight rounds five points below European qualification placings. It probably means that lifting the DFB-Pokal title for the first time since 2017/18 remains their best route into Europe. But playing on the road could throw a spanner in the works, with ‘Die Adler’ taking this trip winless on their last ten travels in all competitions (D4, L6), a dismal run stretching back to November.