Europa League: Spurs’ Last Chance Falls in Frankfurt

Eintracht Frankfurt vs Tottenham Hotspur

Dino Toppmoller’s Eintracht Frankfurt welcomes Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham Hotpsur for a tasty Europa League second leg game on Thursday, with the tie on a knife edge after the two sides played out a 1-1 draw in North London last week. 

The latest Europa League 2025 betting odds rate these two teams pretty equally, but the Eagles have a slight edge after matching the Londoners at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, where Hugo Ekitike gave the Germans a lead before Pedro Porro levelled for Spurs.

This is a high-pressure clash with arguably more riding on it in the Spurs camp, as Postecoglou’s team sits 15^th in the Premier League, with just the Europa League to play for. Meanwhile, the Eagles are sitting handily in third place in the Bundesliga, five points clear of fifth place and on track to qualify for the 2025-26 Champions League.   

Eintracht come into the game on the back of an impressive 3-0 win at home to Heidenheim, while Spurs had a torrid time in the West Midlands, hammered 4-2 by Wolves, who have pretty much confirmed their survival while moving  up to 16^th, just a place and two points behind Tottenham.

Spurs really need this competition, but Eintracht aren’t in any mood to give up their place, and that makes this a high-stakes clash.  

 

Talking Points

Eagles are back on track

It’s been a pretty good week for Toppmoller’s men. Last week, the Eagles fell to a disappointing loss away to Werder Bremen, but they recovered to hold Spurs to a draw in the Europa League, and then they were right on the money as they swept Heidenheim away to cement their third place in the Bundesliga. Jean-Matteo Bahoya and Robin Koch put Frankfurt in charge before the break, and Ekitike confirmed the win midway through the second half.

The 22-year-old French striker has really stepped on since the transfer of Omar Marmoush to Manchester City, scoring 14 goals in 28 games this season, and Ekitike had scored four goals and made three assists in the Europa League. He took his sixth-minute chance at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with ultimate cool, passing the ball into the bottom corner from outside the penalty area.

Eintracht are thriving in their dash for European places in the Bundesliga, and in a recent clash with VfB Stuttgart, they showed they can also grind out a result, winning 1-0. Tottenham’s task on Thursday is anything but easy.       

 

Spurs must cut out individual errors            

While Tottenham’s Europa League 2025 results have been pretty good, the Whites have seriously underperformed in the Premier League and are consigned to a bottom half finish. Postecoglou has been hoping for respite in the Europa League, but he certainly can’t afford his players to make the mistakes they did as they suffered a hiding at Molineux. Keeper Guglielmo Vicario struggled with high crosses into the box and, alongside Cristian Romero and Lucas Bergvall, he was one of three players who made mistakes leading to goals.

Postecoglou was sympathetic in his assessment of his struggling players, saying: “It’s not like they are doing it on purpose. Those two (Romero and Bergvall) are pretty reliable in those situations. Today, it was a collection of events that were unusual.”

That may be so. But losing for Spurs in the Premier League is anything but unusual, as the loss to Wolves was their 17^th of the campaign. But, back in Europe, the team has done better, and some key players are sure to return for this do or die clash.

Dejan Kulusevski, Rodrigo Bentancur and Richarlison, who scored a late goal at Molineux, all started on the bench on Saturday, while Micky van de Ven was an unused substitute. And I expect all four to play some part on Friday, while there will be a late check on Heung-Min Son. 

 

History

Eintracht Frankfurt are twice winners of the Europa League, first in 1980 and most recently in 2022 when they beat Glasgow Rangers in a penalty shootout in the final. Tottenham too have won this competition twice, in 1972 and again in 1984.   

With three wins, one draw, and two defeats from the last six outings, the Eagles are a little stronger than Spurs who have won two, drawn one, and lost three over that period, and the North Londoners have lost four away matches in a row.

 

Betting Tip

This tie certainly is on a knife edge with Eintracht priced at 2.32 here at SBOTOP to win this second leg, Spurs priced at 2.50 and the draw at 3.12. This one really matters to Tottenham, and if they play to their potential, they can win. But I suspect an in-form Frankfurt will have just too much for their visitors.

   

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