1899 aiming to stay unbeaten against Frankfurt

The news should not stop the team from completing "a fantastic end to the season", according to manager Ernst Tanner. "Fantastic", as Tanner referred to it, "means that in the final five games of the season we need to show our fighting spirit and not give anything away to our opponents so that we can't start building for a positive season next year".

Having already claimed 37 points this season, 1899 are currently sitting in 10th place in the Bundesliga. However, a poor run of form has them looking over their shoulder somewhat and the slide towards the relegation zone needs to stop starting this weekend. The European places are as good a sown up as well, meaning that the main aim for Hoffenheim is to reach the 40-point mark come the final day of the season. One win is all they need and the chances of them achieving it against Frankfurt on Saturday are very real. These teams have met five times in the Bundesliga, with the Sinsheim side winning on three occasions while the other two matches ended in stalemates. Their match earlier this season should also offer some hope to the home side as they crushed Eintracht 0-4 inside the Commerzbank Arena in Frankfurt. A brace from Ibisevic as well as contributions from Boris Vukcevic and Peniel Mlapa led 1899 to their biggest away win of the season. The major positive in the match was the creativity shown up front, something that has been lacking since Ralf Rangnick's departure. However, Pezzaiuoli, spurned on by what he saw the first half against Freiburg, believes his team are still capable of putting in a similar performance.

Captain Beck missing for the first time

"We've got to be dominant inside our own stadium and put Eintracht under pressure from the very first whistle", is the essence of Pezzaiuoli's plan for taking all three points on Saturday. "Frankfurt are an aggressive team who never stop competing for the ball. We'll have to match them on that front and it's something we'll have to do from the start", explained the 42-year old head coach. One man certain to be missing the action is Andreas Beck, who up until now has not missed a single minute of competitive football for his team this season. Having picked up his 5th yellow card of the season against Freiburg, the 1899 captain will have to be content with a seat in the stands. Joining Beck as spectators will be Josip Simunic, Boris Vukcevic, Sejad Salihovic, Matthias Jaissle and Chinedu Obasi. Obasi is back in training, but it's still too early to be involved competitively. Simunic, Jaissle and Salihovic are all recovering from injuries, while the rest of the squad remain in contention for a starting spot on Saturday as Hoffenheim look to put an end to three games without a win.

Stats and Facts

Hoffenheim's biggest win of the season, alongside the 4-0 win over Hannover 96, also turned out to simultaneously be Eintracht Frankfurt's biggest loss. Lower league side Blau-Weiß Berlin are the only other team to still be unbeaten against the Hessen outfit in the Bundesliga. Unfortunately, 1899 are the worst team when it comes to clinching points from a winning position with only Borussia Mönchengladbach, the team bottom of the table, on equal footing with them in that department. However, not to forget, Frankfurt have only managed to score 5 times since the turn of the year.