Eintracht Frankfurt handed fitness boost for Tottenham as 'speedy' star set to return

Eintracht Frankfurt could be handed a significant fitness blow ahead of their clash with Tottenham on Thursday night. Spurs welcome the German side to North London for the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final, and the pressure is on.

Spurs are stuck in the bottom half of the Premier League, and they know their only chance of securing European qualification for next season will be winning the Europa League.

The pressure is on for Ange Postecoglou as he battles to keep his job between now and the end of the season. Eintracht Frankfurt haven’t been in brilliant form themselves, losing two of their last three games, although they are still third in the Bundesliga table. Frankfurt have been struggling with injuries over recent weeks, something Tottenham know all too much about, but they do have a very large squad, unlike their Thursday night opponents.

The pressure will also be on for Frankfurt as they look to get themselves out of their current rut, and they could be helped by the return of a key player. Ansgar Knauff has been struggling with a knee injury of late. The 23-year-old has scored three and assisted eight so far this season, including two goals and two assists in the Europa League.

But he missed the Werder Bremen defeat with a knee injury, and there were fears he would be absent for this one. But reports in Frankfurt suggest Knauff will be back and fit to travel to North London to take on Spurs. A report from FR reads: “There's reason to hope that Knauff will indeed be zipping up and down the line in Northeast London. Coach Dino Toppmöller is even confident he can rely on the 23-year-old again, he said between the lines after the disappointing game in Bremen. Ansgar Knauff was missing from the Hesse side. And he's been sorely missed since sustaining a knee injury in the match against VfB Stuttgart without any opponent's help.”

Knauff is described as a ‘speedy’ winger, and it’s made clear just how important he is to Frankfurt’s hopes of moving on to the semi-finals.

Postecoglou’s boosts

Postecoglou decided to rest three of his key players ahead of this one, with Destiny Udogie, Micky van de Ven and Richarlison all coming into this one well-rested. “Destiny and Micky are fine,” said the Australian after the win over Southampton.

“Obviously they’ve missed a lot of football this year and it made sense for us to, kind of, put them on ice today. Richarlison is good. We’ve kind of done this with a few of the boys now who are coming back, sort of get them involved in the match day. There was the possibility of him getting a run out today.

“I just think when they’re involved in a match day it just gets rid of a lot of the nerves or anxiety when you’re coming back from a long time out and it’s great to have him back. He’ll get another few days of training and no doubt he’ll play a part from now on.”

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