Overview
Both teams won their opening home match, then suffered a defeat away from home in the next match.
Interestingly, they met two identical opponents, but the results were completely opposite. Frankfurt destroyed Galatasaray 5-1 before losing to Atletico Madrid with the same score, while Liverpool beat Atletico 3-2 at Anfield but lost 0-1 to Galatasaray in Istanbul.
The erratic form of both teams also extended into the domestic arena. Coach Dino Toppmoller and his team have won only 1 of their last 5 matches in all competitions. They led Freiburg 2-1, but conceded a goal in the 87th minute and dropped the victory, extending the disappointing streak of the past month.
Liverpool's situation is not better. After a 1-2 defeat to rival Manchester United at Anfield, The Kop have lost 4 consecutive matches for the first time in more than a decade. Of which, 3 matches ended with goals conceded in the 84th minute onwards. Their impressive streak at the beginning of the season quickly collapsed in the most painful way.
However, in terms of creating opportunities, Arne Slot's team is still better. In the last 3 matches, Frankfurt has not created more than 0.89 expected goals (xG) in any match - a figure much lower than the minimum 1.81 xG that Liverpool have had in each recent defeat.
In this series of matches, The Kop have only scored 3 goals from 8.64 xG, showing that their finishing efficiency is low and can completely improve in the coming time.
It remains to be seen whether that will happen at Deutsche Bank Park. After all, Arne Slot has lost more than won when leading away teams in the European arena (5 defeats compared to 4 wins). However, it would be reasonable to believe that Liverpool will not have much difficulty creating scoring opportunities.
As mentioned, Frankfurt were held to a 5-1 draw by Atletico Madrid in their second match - their biggest defeat in the history of the Champions League Cup C1/Champions League. The expected goals (xG) they had to endure in that match was 4.44, the second highest in the Champions League this season, behind only Pa fos (4.54) against Bayern Munich.
If the home team's defense continues to show gaps, this could be an opportunity for Mohamed Salah to regain his scoring form.
The Egyptian star has failed to score in 4 consecutive matches at club level, but his record in the Champions League is still impressive. Salah has 15 goals in his last 19 away games in the competition, and a total of 22 away goals - the most in the history of a Liverpool player in this prestigious arena.
Head-to-head record
There have not been many confrontations between the two teams, as Liverpool and Frankfurt have only faced each other in one UEFA Cup match in the 1972-1973 season. At that time, the final victory of 2-0 was in favor of the English representative.
However, in the past two decades, The Kop have always shown impressive form when facing Bundesliga teams. They have lost just one of their last 15 games against German sides in the C1 Cup/Champions League, winning 10.
Notably, Liverpool have won all 4 of their most recent away matches against Bundesliga teams, including a 1-0 victory over RB Leipzig last season.
Meanwhile, Frankfurt's home record against English sides is quite inconsistent. In the 2024-2025 season, they lost to Tottenham, despite having held their Premier League opponents to a draw twice before.
Since 2018-2019, the German team has won against West Ham, drawn with Chelsea and lost to Arsenal right at their home ground Deutsche Bank Park.
Score prediction: Frankfurt 1-3 Liverpool
The match between Frankfurt and Liverpool takes place at 2:00 am on October 23 (Vietnam time).
