Eintracht Frankfurt vs Schalke 04 preview: Mid-table clash as the Bundesliga runs down

Eintracht Frankfurt host Schalke 04 on Wednesday, coming into the match off the back of a 4-1 victory against Hertha Berlin at the weekend. The Eagles' form has improved significantly in the past couple of games, with them losing by a single-goal margin late on in the DFB Pokal semi-final against Bayern Munich.

It looks as if Adi Hütter's side have now turned a corner since struggling with the return to football and have started to look much better on the pitch, with only a single loss in their past five games. Last weekend's emphatic victory against Hertha Berlin was a sign of their improvement, a comfortable victory for Die Adler against a side who have been difficult to beat since the restart.

Schalke, however, have struggled since the Bundesliga returned and are now winless in their previous twelve matches, with a single league victory in the Rückrunde. The Gelsenkirchen-based side have struggled since Christmas and have lost any hopes of Europe, with David Wagner's position at the club now very much on the line.

Schalke have drawn their previous two games against Union Berlin and Bayer Leverkusen, but have looked weak in all games they have played since the Bundesliga's restart.

Team news

Eintracht centre-back Martin Hinteregger was on the bench for Saturday's game against Hertha BSC and may make a return to starting lineup against Schalke. Sebastien Rode is also available again after missing the weekend's game through a suspension.

Portuguese forward Goncalo Paciencia has been absent for Die Adler since football returned and it is not yet known whether he will be able to play on Wednesday evening

Daniel Caligiuri will not be able to play for Schalke this week as he is suspended. As well as this, Guido Burgstaller, Amine Harit, Suit Serdar, Omar Mascarell, Salif Sané and Benjamin Stambouli are all injured and will not feature.

FC Barcelona loanee Jean-Claire Todibo is expected to be available on Wednesday after recovering from an ankle injury.

Predicted lineups

Eintracht Frankfurt - Trapp; Abraham, Hinteregger, Ndicka; Costa, Kohr, Rode, Kostic; Kamada; Dost, Silva

Schalke 04 - Nubel; Kenny, Oczipka, Kabak, Miranda; Boujellab, Schopf, McKennie, Bozdogan; Kutucu, Gregoritsch

Ones to watch

Eintracht Frankfurt - Andre Silva

Eintracht's star man since the return has been AC Milan loanee André Silva, who has picked up six goals and one assist in his 500 minutes played. According to reports from Milan News, the Italian side would be willing to let him make his loan move become permanent this summer.

Playing either on his own up top or in a partnership with Bas Dost, he has once finally found his scoring boots in the Bundesliga after joining in the summer.

The Portuguese international has scored the most goals out of all players in the league since the Bundesliga has returned.

Schalke 04 - Weston McKennie

Few players have looked threatening for Schalke 04 in their previous games, but Weston McKennie might be influential in the middle of Schalke's setup.

The 21-year-old USMNT international has been at the Royal Blues since 2017 and has become an integral part of David Wagner's side.

The midfielder scored in the club's game against Fortuna Düsseldorf and will be one of the few players to keep your eyes on in the Schalke side for Wednesday night's match.

Previous meetings

Although the Royal Blues' form has changed much since then, last time the two met - in Gelsenkirchen back in December - Schalke were 1-0 victors.

In the previous six meetings between the two, Eintracht Frankfurt have been the more successful of the two with three wins so far, with one draw and two wins for Schalke.