Eintracht – Bochum

Eintracht to win their opening Bundesliga fixture

In the opening game of the 26th round of the Bundesliga on Friday, clubs of different classes will meet, but with an equal degree of tournament motivation. Eintracht, who had unexpected success in the European cups last season, are now on the edge of the continental championship zone with a manageable gap to the top four, which will give the Frankfurt club a second successive season in the Champions League. Bochum, for their part, are 14th in the table, four points ahead of the relegation zone. In such a situation, it would be wise for the guests of the upcoming game not to pay attention to the opponent's class and the place of the match - they need to systematically gain points. Before Friday's encounter, bookmakers predictably identified the home team as the favourites, offering odds of 1.56 to win. A couple of months ago, Eintracht were in excellent form and came close to the Champions League zone. However, recent weeks have been so unsuccessful for Oliver Glasner's charges that the current sixth place now looks rather shaky. The Frankfurt club's last win came in mid-February, when they beat Werder 2-0 at home. The next six official meetings brought Eintracht four defeats and two draws. During this period, the club lost to Union Berlin and Leipzig in the league, and drew with Wolfsburg and Stuttgart. By the way, the home defeat by Napoli on 21 February interrupted Eintracht's six-match home winning streak. Now Glasner's side have another home winning streak - a three-match unbeaten streak. Its completion is expected in the upcoming meeting. Bochum can boast a reverse trend in their playing form. From mid-February to early March, the Ruhr club lost four times in a row, but they created two sensations in their last two matches before the break for the national team games. First, Bochum beat sturdy Cologne 2-0 away, and then unexpectedly slammed Leipzig 1-0 at home. This season, Bochum are unbeaten in more than two games. Eintracht will take revenge on their opponents for the defeat in the first round and stop their current winning streak.