Borussia Dortmund didn’t quite have the season they expected as they finished a distant third behind champions Bayern Munich and surprise package RB Leipzig. But they can still salvage the season by winning the DFB-Pokal for the first time since 2012.
This will be Dortmund’s record fourth-consecutive DFB-Pokal final appearance. They lost in each of the past three seasons, two of which against Bayern Munich. However, they did get some measure of revenge against their rivals, as they knocked out Bayern in this year’s semis.
Dortmund will be the favorites heading into this year’s final, and with good reason. They have the significant advantage in terms of quality over Frankfurt, particularly up front.
Star striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had another outstanding season as he finished with a Bundesliga-best 31 goals. He scored seven goals in his last eight games of the season, a streak which began with a 3-1 win over Frankfurt. Marco Reus also scored in that game, and had an equally prolific end to what was another injury-hit campaign with seven goals in his last eight games.
Dortmund manager Thomas Tuchel will also have the likes of Christian Pulisic, Ousmane Dembele, and Shinji Kagawa to choose from as options in attack.
Eintracht Frankfurt had a perfectly acceptable campaign in which they finished 11th and avoided the threat of relegation. However, they really took their foot off the gas for the final couple of months. Frankfurt won just once in their final 14 league games, drew four, and lost nine.
Frankfurt scored just 36 goals all season, tied for the fourth-fewest in the entire Bundesliga. Their top scorer, Marco Fabian, has just 7 goals, while Alex Meier (5 goals) has only recently returned to training after a heel injury.
That lack of goalscoring was pretty apparent in their unlikely cup run. Frankfurt scored just five goals in their five matches, and needed an incredible three penalty shootouts to advance. They outlasted Borussia Monchengladbach 7-6 in the semifinals to reach their first DFB-Pokal final in a decade.
Frankfurt do boast a 2-1 home win over Dortmund back in November. But with their prolonged run of poor form, and their lack of attacking quality, it’ll be a major uphill battle for them to claim their first DFB-Pokal in nearly 30 years.
Writer’s Prediction
Dortmund (-260) end their DFB-Pokal losing skid as they beat Frankfurt, 3-1.
