In the third round of the Europa League, the German club faces one of the weaker opponents at this stage, but even Galatasaray already got burned against Rigas FS. Can Eintracht Frankfurt avoid similar mistakes and secure a confident victory?
Eintracht Frankfurt has struggled in October. First, they travelled to Istanbul to take on Beşiktaş (3:1), where they managed a victory. Immediately following that was a clash with Bayern Munich. Despite significant dominance by the visitors, Eintracht Frankfurt punished Bayern Munich three times on counterattacks (3:3). After the break, they suffered a defeat to Bayer Leverkusen (2:1). Omar Marmoush scored in all these games. The Egyptian is tearing up the Bundesliga: scoring nine goals and providing four assists in the last six matches. How will the Riga club stop such a player? There’s only one saving grace—they might hope the forward doesn't take the field.
Rigas FS themselves are dominating the Latvian championship, although there have been slip-ups. Due to a recent one against Auda (1:2), they have yet to secure their early championship title. In the second round of the Europa League, the tournament newcomers unexpectedly put up a fight against Galatasaray, securing a home draw (2:2) after being 2:0 down. The Turkish club didn't hold back, featuring Mauro Icardi, Barış Yılmaz, Dries Mertens in their lineup, with 2.35 xG, 16 shots, 7 on target. The Latvian side know how to score against anyone; however, their defence is also far from perfect: this autumn, the bet of total over 2.5 won in 7 out of 10 matches, and total over 3.5 in 4 out of 10 matches.
Considering Omar Marmoush’s excellent form, the ease with which Eintracht Frankfurt both score and concede (total over 3.5 in 4 of their last 5 games), and Rigas FS’s readiness to respond, this match promises plenty of goals.
