Eintracht Frankfurt will be aiming to recover from their first defeat of the season when they host Heidenheim in the Bundesliga on Sunday.

The visitors, meanwhile, head into the contest level on points with their forthcoming opponents, which not many people would have predicted after six matches.

Match preview

Of course, with due respect to Heidenheim, much of that situation is down to Frankfurt's own struggles during the early weeks of the campaign, even if their 2-0 defeat away to Wolfsburg last weekend was the first time they had come away from any match empty-handed so far this season.

Niko Kovac would have enjoyed getting one over on his former side from the hosts' managerial dugout, with Jonas Wind's brace either side of Mario Gotze's dismissal for two bookable offences proving to be the difference between the two sides.

While Dino Toppmoller's side had proven extremely tough to beat until their trip to Lower Saxony, they have also found winning matches themselves rather testing, having been involved in four successive draws sandwiched in between their only win and loss of the league season.

They were beaten once again when travelling to Greece to face PAOK in the Europa Conference League on Thursday, so Toppmoller will be viewing Sunday's match against their newly promoted opponents as the perfect opportunity to return to winning ways ahead of the upcoming international break.

Heidenheim, on the other hand, are enjoying the early weeks of their debut season in the Bundesliga, having recorded their second straight home win against Champions League representatives Union Berlin last time out.

In many ways, their most recent opponents provide the perfect template for a club of Heidenheim's stature to follow, with Die Eisernen only promoted to the Bundesliga for the first time in their history in 2019 themselves, remarkably going on to qualify for the Champions League just four years later.

However, Frank Schmidt and his players did not allow their undoubted respect and admiration for Union Berlin to translate into any niceties, with Jan-Niklas Beste's opener just before the hour mark proving enough to get the better of them at Voith-Arena.

Heidenheim's only point on the road so far this season came when coming from two goals behind against Borussia Dortmund last month, which showcases that Frankfurt would be foolish to underestimate their opponents at any stage, especially if they find themselves in front.

Team News

Frankfurt will remain without Simon Simoni and club captain Sebastian Rode due to elbow and calf injuries respectively, while Gotze will sit Sunday's match out through suspension after his red card against Wolfsburg.

Niels Nkounkou will likely replace the 2014 World Cup winner, but Eric Junior Dina Ebimbe may move into a more central role in between the lines, having started out of position at left wing-back in last weekend's defeat.

Heidenheim, meanwhile, will travel without Kevin Sessa, Marnon Busch and Elidon Qenaj due to injury, but Schmidt will hope to have that trio available for selection once again after the forthcoming international break.

In truth, it would represent a major surprise should Schmidt make any alterations to the starting XI which defeated Union Berlin last time out, especially as his players have enjoyed an eight-day gap between fixtures, unlike their forthcoming opponents.

Eintracht Frankfurt possible starting lineup:
Trapp; Tuta, Koch, Pacho; Buta, Larsson, Shkiri, Nkounkou; Dina Ebimbe, Chaibi; Marmoush

Heidenheim possible starting lineup:
Muller; Traore, Mainka, Siersleben, Fohrenbach; Maloney, Theuerkauf; Dinkci, Pieringer, Beste; Kleindienst

We say: Eintracht Frankfurt 1-1 Heidenheim

Although Frankfurt will understandably head into this match as favourites, the loss of Randal Kolo Muani to Paris Saint-Germain at the end of the summer transfer window has clearly hit them hard, and their results may suffer until the France forward is belatedly replaced in January.

Heidenheim will be fresher and more confident having had no European involvements in midweek and beaten Union Berlin last time out, and we can envisage them returning home with another point to add to their growing tally.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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