Eintracht Frankfurt host Vaduz ahead of Bundesliga start

Manuel Veth –

Eintracht Frankfurt vs Vaduz – Thursday, August 15, 19:30BST/20:30CEST – Waldstadion, Frankfurt, Germany

Eintracht Frankfurt vs Vaduz will take place at the Commerzbank Arena in Frankfurt (Photo by Alex Grimm/Bongarts/Getty Images)

Eintracht Frankfurt have all but wrapped up their ticket for the Europa League qualification playoffs. The Eagles made short-process with Lichtenstein-based FC Vaduz beating the Swiss second division side 5-0.

It was a welcome result for head coach Adi Hütter. For Frankfurt, the Europa League qualification stage has been a small line between getting the club ready for the upcoming Bundesliga season and ensuring that the club will reach the group stage of what is an important competition for the club.

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The difficulties of walking that fine line were evident on Sunday in the DFB Pokal against Waldhof Mannheim. The Liga 3 side scored three goals against Frankfurt, and the Eagles had to work very hard in their 5-3 victory.

That match, in particular, highlighted that Frankfurt are anything but a finished product, something that the club already experienced one year ago. The departures of Sébastian Haller and Luka Jović have left a big hole in Frankfurt’s attack, a hole that he club is still looking to close as the Bundesliga season approaches.

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On Tuesday there have been rumours that former Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge could join the club. Rumours that were not confirmed but highlight that Frankfurt have very much started to look beyond the third round of the Europa League already.

Thursday’s game might just be deemed another welcome friendly before the season kicks off in earnest when Frankfurt host Hoffenheim on Bundesliga matchday 1. Whether the club will have finished, in what has already been a busy transfer window, remains to be seen, however.

Eintracht Frankfurt vs Vaduz  – Players to look out for:

Ante Rebić #4 – Eintracht Frankfurt

Ante Rebić is the last remaining player of Frankfurt’s magical triangle. But even with the window in England closed there is still a chance that the Croatian could leave the club this summer. Both Inter Milan and Milan were the latest candidates in a long list of clubs that have been linked with the striker. Inter Milan might be in the market for an attacking player after they loaned out Ivan Perišić to Bayern München. Losing Rebić, however, would be difficult to compensate for Frankfurt, no other player has been more valuable for their attack, and a player of his calibre would be difficult to find this late in the transfer window.

Gert Kams of FC Flora Tallinn competes with Ante Rebic of Eintracht Frankfurt during the UEFA Europa League Second Qualifying Round 1st Leg match between FC Flora Tallinn and Eintracht Frankfurt at A Le Coq Arena on July 25, 2019, in Tallinn, Estonia. (Photo by Joosep Martinson/Getty Images)

Mohamed Coulibaly #10 – Vaduz

Journeyman Mohamed Coulibaly will be the Vaduz player to watch on Thursday. The Senegalese forward started his career in Switzerland before embarking on a career in England and Spain. Signed from UD Logroñés in 2017 the 31-year-old has scored 15 goals and 14 assists in 76 games for Vaduz and adds important experience to the Lichtenstein-based club.

Mohamed Coulibaly of AFC Bournemouth controls the ball during a pre-season friendly match between AFC Bournemouth and Real Madrid at Goldsands Stadium on July 21, 2013, in Bournemouth, England. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images)

Eintracht Frankfurt vs Vaduz  – Match Stats

• The first leg was the first-ever fixture between the two clubs.
• For Vaduz, this is the first competitive match in Germany.
• The Lichtenstein based club never managed to get beyond the third round of Europa League qualifying.

Futbolgrad Network Prediction: Eintracht Frankfurt vs Vaduz  – 2-1

Eintracht Frankfurt vs Vaduz  – Lineups

Eintracht Frankfurt:

Formation: 3-5-1-2

Wiedwald – Hinteregger, Abraham, N’Dicka – Durm, Torró, Kohr, da Costa – Kamada – Rebić, Joveljić

Head Coach: Adi Hütter

FC Vaduz:

Formation: 3-4-3

Büchel – Simani, Schmid, Gasser – Göppel, Prokopić, Wieser, Dorn – Coulibaly, Frick, Cicek

Head Coach: Mario Frick

Manuel Veth is the owner and Editor in Chief of the Futbolgrad Network. He also works as a freelance journalist and among others contributes to Forbes.com and Pro Soccer USA. He holds a Doctorate of Philosophy in History from King’s College London, and his thesis is titled: “Selling the People’s Game: Football’s transition from Communism to Capitalism in the Soviet Union and its Successor States,” which is available HERE. Manuel has lived in Amsterdam, Kyiv, Moscow, Tbilisi, London, and currently splits his time between Victoria, BC and Munich, Germany.  Follow Manuel on Twitter @ManuelVeth.