Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Liverpool: Champions League team news and TV information

Liverpool travel to play Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League following yet another defeat, this time against Man United at Anfield.

Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Liverpool

Champions League (3) | Waldstadion
October 22, 2024 | 8pm (BST)

The Champions League match at Frankfurt should act as an opportunity to play Liverpool’s players who deserve a chance in the starting XI.

The Reds’ preparations for the match were disrupted by delayed flight on the eve of the match, which cancelled Slot’s press conference.

While Frankfurt will threaten Liverpool on the break, their relatively weak defence has to be exploited by the Reds if they are to regain confidence ahead of Saturday night’s trip to Brentford.

1. Ryan Gravenberch not named in travelling squad

Ryan Gravenberch‘s absence from training and the travelling squad is the main news regarding Slot’s selection ahead of the match.

He didn’t train on Tuesday afternoon ahead of the team’s flight to Germany. Meanwhile, Giovanni Leoni remains out, of course, as do Stefan Bajcetic and Jayden Danns.

Wataru Endo did return to training, however, having missed the last couple of weeks with a hamstring issue.

Trey Nyoni trained with the senior squad as usual, but will play for the under-19s in the UEFA Youth League against Frankfurt U19s having been left out of the 21-man travelling squad.

2. Team selection

With Gravenberch out of action, Curtis Jones should be pushing for a start alongside Dominik Szoboszlai in midfield.

Alexis Mac Allister is clearly out of sorts and will likely be consigned to the bench, with Florian Wirtz the better choice in Europe.

While far from certain, Andy Robertson is expected to replace Milos Kerkez at left-back, while Conor Bradley or Jeremie Frimpong should start at right-back.

Hugo Ekitike should also return to the starting XI, as could Federico Chiesa who is also in with a chance of playing.

Predicted XI: Mamardashvili; Frimpong, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Jones, Szoboszlai; Salah, Wirtz, Gakpo; Ekitike

3. Five in a row?

Liverpool’s defeat against Man United left them with four consecutive defeats for the first time since 2014.

You have to go considerably further back to find the last time the Reds lost five on the bounce. In fact, they didn’t even play in all red back then!

Liverpool last lost five consecutive matches in September 1953, all of them in the top-flight under manager Don Welsh.

Let’s hope there will be no need to bring that statistic up at full time.

4. Hugo Ekitike’s homecoming

Frankfurt may not be Ekitike’s spiritual home – that title belongs to Reims – but it is where he made a name for himself in European football.

After an unsuccessful spell at Paris Saint-Germain, he went on loan then signed permanently at Frankfurt, where he scored 26 goals and provided 14 assists in 64 matches to attract Liverpool’s attention.

Ekitike was Eintracht’s top scorer in all competitions last season with 22 goals – two more than Omar Marmoush who joined Man City during the January transfer window.

5. Goals, goals and more goals

The order of the season so far has been goals, goals and more goals for Wednesday’s hosts.

In Frankfurt’s first 10 games of the season, there have been a staggering 54 goals – 29 scored by Dino Toppmoller’s side.

By coincidence, Frankfurt have actually faced the same two opponents as Liverpool in this league phase so far.

They opened their campaign with a resounding 5-1 home win over Galatasaray, before being beaten by the same scoreline away against Atletico Madrid.

Meanwhile, in all competitions, the Bundesliga outfit have lost three of their last five matches and have conceded two or more in all of them, while scoring 12 themselves.

6. Frankfurt’s team news

Manager Toppmoller has already confirmed one starter for the hosts, saying that goalkeeper Kaua Santos will lose his place to Michael Zetterer.

Consistent to Frankfurt’s two Champions League matches so far have been the attacking full-backs Nathaniel Brown and Nnamdi Collins, who have complemented the attacking quartet of Ritsu Doan, Can Uzun, Ansgar Knauff and striker Jonathan Burkardt.

The 25-year-old centre-forward scored twice at the weekend in their 2-2 draw at Freiburg, taking his tally to seven goals in nine appearances already this campaign.

They should all start in front of a centre-back duo of Robin Koch and Arthur Theate, a pairing that has come in for some criticism lately.

7. Did you know?

Liverpool are unbeaten in their last 14 matches against German sides, winning 11 and drawing three, since a 4-2 loss at Bayer Leverkusen in 2002.

It is more than six years since Liverpool last failed to score in successive away European games – at Barcelona in May 2019 and at Napoli four months later.

Liverpool have not conceded a second-half goal to an opposition player in any of the last nine away matches in Europe. The only one in that period was a Bradley own goal at Sparta Prague in March 2024.

8. Elsewhere in the Champions League

Going into the third matchday of the league phase, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, PSG, Internazionale, Arsenal and Qarabag are the six teams to have taken six points from six so far.

The pick of the action is Arsenal vs. Atletico Madrid, though if you want exciting football, the Emirates might not be the place to watch.

If you have a second screen, Wednesday’s secondary event alongside Liverpool is probably Real Madrid vs. Juventus.

9. Who is the referee?

There will be an all-French officiating team in place on Wednesday night, led by referee Francois Letexier who has taken charge of three previous Liverpool matches.

Assisting him at the Waldstadion are Cyril Mugnier and Mehdi Rahmouni, while Jeremie Pignard is the fourth official.

Jerome Brisard is the VAR for this one and Tomasz Kwiatkowski will be his assistant.

10. Follow the match with TIA

Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Liverpool is live on TNT Sports 1 with kickoff at 8pm (BST).

TIA’s matchday live blog will be up and running from 7.15pm, with Henry Jackson tasked with keeping you entertained and up-to-date.

Come on you Reds!