Overview
Tottenham's season is following an unpredictable scenario. The team led by Thomas Frank, in many ways, is a miniature image of instability. And nothing illustrates the contrast between Spurs' Premier League and Champions League journeys more clearly.
In the domestic league, Tottenham is currently ranked 14th after only winning 2/14 recent matches. But in European competitions, they are firmly in 5th place, winning 4 in 7 matches (2 draws, 1 loss) and almost certainly holding a ticket to the round of 16.
Spurs have won their last 2 Champions League matches in a row, 2-0 against Borussia Dortmund and 3-0 against Slavia Prague respectively. If they continue their triumphal song, they will win their first 3 consecutive matches in this tournament since November 2019. The last time Tottenham won 3 consecutive matches and kept all three clean was in April 2019.
Last weekend, Cristian Romero headed in the 90th minute to hold back the 2-2 draw against Burnley, bringing back a valuable point and possibly helping Frank gain more time. However, his future in North London is still questioned after another lackluster performance by Spurs.
Therefore, the victory over Dortmund last week is like a positive signal. Tottenham overwhelmed early, quickly taking the lead, before the match was almost decided when Daniel Svensson was sent off in the 26th minute.
This result helps Spurs take a big advantage in the top 8 race to avoid the play-offs.
In the opposite direction, Frankfurt has run out of opportunities to win play-off tickets and only has the goal of closing the group stage in a positive way. However, history is not on Dennis Schmitt's team's side. In this century, they have only won 1/7 home matches against English representatives in European cups (3 draws, 3 losses). That was a 1-0 victory over West Ham in the Europa League in May 2022.
This season, Frankfurt once hosted an English team in the Champions League and suffered a heavy 1-5 defeat to Liverpool in October. Notably, they also faced difficulties against Tottenham. Frankfurt did not score in the last two times they hosted Spurs, including a 0-0 draw in October 2022 and a 0-1 defeat in April 2025.
Even when they found the opening goal, Frankfurt still faced the problem of maintaining an advantage. They are the team that dropped the most points from the lead in the Champions League this season, with a total of 9 points lost. That scenario also appeared recently, when they lost 2-3 to Qarabag, lost 1-2 to Barcelona, and last weekend continued to succumb 1-3 to Hoffenheim.
The challenge is even heavier as Tottenham is one of the best defensive teams in the league. Despite conceding an average of just one goal per game, Spurs still achieve a clean sheet rate of 71% (5/7 matches). They have also become a rare case in the history of European cups playing at least 5 matches in a season, each match conceding at least one goal but still maintaining a clean sheet rate of 70% or more.
Top 8 is within reach, and the pressure in the Premier League is increasing day by day, Tottenham certainly considers this an opportunity to win another victory.
Head-to-head record
Tottenham and Frankfurt are not unfamiliar opponents, having faced each other six times in major European leagues. Spurs are clearly dominant when they have only lost one match (3 wins, 2 draws) and are unbeaten in the last four encounters, all taking place from the 2022-2023 season (2 wins, 2 draws).
In the most recent encounter, Tottenham won 1-0 in the second leg of the Europa League quarter-finals last season, thanks to a penalty in the first half by Dominic Solanke.
Score prediction: Frankfurt 0-1 Totteham
The match between Frankfurt and Tottenham takes place at 3:00 AM on January 29 (Vietnam time).
