Frankfurt vs Dortmund Preview: Classic Encounter, Key Battle, Team News & More

Borussia Dortmund can't waste any time beating themselves up over their 1-1 draw with APOEL Nicosia on Tuesday, with all eyes returning to Bundesliga action this weekend.

Having suffered their first league defeat of the season last week, Dortmund need to return to winning ways against Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday, with a revitalised Bayern Munich looking to close the gap on the Bundesliga's current leaders.

Here's everything you need to know ahead of the clash at the Commerzbank-Arena.

Classic Encounter

Alex Grimm/GettyImages

For the classic encounter this week, we only have to look back at the game that secured Borussia Dortmund their most recent piece of silverware. 

At Berlin's Olympiastadion, Thomas Tuchel's side took just eight minutes to open the scoring through now-Barcelona winger Ousmane Dembélé, the Frenchman placing a left-footed effort past Eintracht Frankfurt's Lukas Hradecky.

It then took just 20 minutes for the Eagles to get back onto level terms, Ante Rebic getting on the end of a Mijat Gacinovic through ball and sending a Thierry Henry-style finish beyond Roman Bürki.

In the second half, referee Deniz Aytekin adjudged that Christian Pulisic was fouled in the penalty area after Frankfurt's Finnish goalkeeper carelessly put pressure on the young American. 

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang stepped up to take the spot-kick and the Gabonese striker put the ball down the middle, notching his 40th goal of the season in the process, before Dortmund were crowned DFB Pokal winners.

Key Battle

Dan-Axel Zagadou vs Sébastien Haller

Dean Mouhtaropoulos/GettyImages

Two nominees for the first Bundesliga Rookie Award of the season could prove vital in Saturday's fixture, with Dortmund's Dan-Axel Zagadou - the winner of the Rookie Award - being tasked with handling Frankfurt's new star striker, Sébastien Haller.

Zagadou left Paris Saint-Germain in the summer after failing to get enough game time in the French capital and has found himself thrust into the Borussia Dortmund first team. Despite naturally being a centre-back, the 18-year-old has mainly plugged a gap for Peter Bosz at left-back due to injuries to Marcel Schmelzer, Eric Durm and Raphaël Guerreiro.

Former FC Utrecht striker Haller completed a €7m to the Bundesliga over the summer after scoring an impressive 41 goals in two Eredivisie seasons. The 23-year-old has already notched four goals across all competitions this campaign, with his physicality and technical ability sure to cause the visitors with a few problems throughout the 90 minutes.

Team News

Eintracht Frankfurt are suffering with a major injury crisis ahead of their clash with Dortmund this weekend. 

Danny da Costa (cracked tendon) is the only defender missing through injury, but Omar Mascarell (Achilles), Gelson Fernandes (muscle fibre), Slobodan Medojevic (calf), Marc Stendera (ill), Jonathan de Guzmán (muscular problems) and Marco Fabián (lumbar vertebrae) could all be absent from the Eagles' midfield.

Alexander Meier (ankle) and Luka Jovic (ill) are the only two absentees from Frankfurt's attacking line, but their light midfield will give Dortmund the upper hand on Saturday.

For the visitors, Sokratis' suspension will keep him out of the defence along with Raphaël Guerreiro, Lukasz Piszczek and Eric Durm, with Ömer Toprak also a doubt after sustaining a knock against APOEL Nicosia.

Predicted Eintracht Frankfurt XI: Hradecky, Chandler, Hasebe, Abraham, Salcedo, Willems, Boateng, Gacinovic, Blum, Rebic, Haller.

Predicted Borussia Dortmund XI: Bürki, Toljan, Zagadou, Bartra, Schmelzer, Weigl, Dahoud, Götze, Yarmolenko, Philipp, Aubameyang.

Prediction

Surely there is only one way this one can go.

Dortmund's defeat to RB Leipzig last week was only the second time this season they've failed to claim all three points in the Bundesliga, their first being a 0-0 draw with SC Freiburg. 

In Dortmund's Bundesliga fixture that followed their stalemate at the Schwarzwald-Stadion, they knocked five past FC Köln and we can expect something similar on matchday nine.

Injuries to key midfielders for Frankfurt will hinder their ability to transition from defence into attack and that is something Peter Bosz will look to capitalize on.

Prediction: Eintracht Frankfurt 0-4 Borussia Dortmund