Eintracht Frankfurt vs Aston Villa
Pre-season is in full flow, folks, and following the completion of the Club World Cup, the best teams in Europe’s top leagues are comparing their progress in face-offs with their peers. The Club Friendly tiff between Eintracht Frankfurt and Aston Villa is a fascinating clash to take a look at.
Dino Toppmoller’s Eagles finished third in the Bundesliga last term and will take their place in the 2025/26 Champions League, while Unai Emery’s Villans finished sixth in the Premier League and will settle for a spot in the Europa League. That is a bitter pill for the Midlanders to swallow after they performed so well in Europe’s elite competition last term and missed out after a highly controversial loss to Manchester United on the final day of the season.
Eintracht and Villa will get it on at the Lynn Family Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky, at 7pm local time on Saturday (midnight in the UK), so let’s take a look at where the two clubs are right now and the pre-match Club Friendly 2025 odds.
Frankfurt prepare for life after Ekitike and Marmoush
After a third-place finish last term, the Eagles will hope to compete among the elite again this season. But the latest betting odds at SBOTOP say Toppmoller’s team will find it difficult to break through the big four of Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen, Borussia Dortmund, and RB Leipzig. And following the departure of striker Hugo Ekitike to Liverpool, it is entirely reasonable to come to that conclusion, particularly following the transfer of Omar Marmoush to Manchester City just six months earlier.
Ekitike and Marmoush scored the goals that propelled the Eagles into the top four, with the French striker taking up the mantle with 15 after Marmoush had bagged 15 before he left in January. To lose your two matchwinners in the same calendar year is quite a blow, though the Eagles have already made some preparation with the signing of Mainz striker Jonathan Burkardt for €21 million, a fraction of the fees received for Ekitike and Marmoush.
The 24-year-old certainly deserves his chance in the Champions League after he scored 18 goals in 29 league games last season to make him the top-scoring German player, with only Harry Kane, Serhou Guirassy, and Patrik Schick scoring more. A Mainz youth product, Burkardt has moved on after 11 years at the club, and the Eagles may just have found their new hero.
Villa fans will recognise ex-Premier League stars Michy Batshuayi and Robin Koch, while the player to keep an eye on is Mario Gotze. The 33-year-old is still a class act, with nine goals in 86 games for the Eagles and 17 in 66 full internationals, and will be a fine mentor for Burkardt.
A big three weeks ahead for Villa
Emery’s Villa are yet to make waves in the transfer market, and that will be more difficult without Champions League football to offer the best players who are looking for a move. They’ve had negative Club Friendly 2025 results thus far, losing to League Two neighbours Walsall and third-tier German team Hansa. Now they face one of the Bundesliga’s finest, and Emery will be looking for progress with just three weeks to go before they play their Premier League opener.
Villa will be competing with the likes of their first opponents, Newcastle United, for a place in the leading group again this term, and it was the Magpies who benefited from the final day controversies to finish fifth and grab that last available Champions League place.
Emery is yet to make a big signing this summer and has some work to do to keep his more saleable assets at the club. Young forward Zepiqueno Redmond and backup keeper Marco Bizot have arrived at Villa Park, and there have been no major outgoings so far, though big-spending Chelsea have been circling, with an eye on Morgan Rogers.
You’d think the Blues have their fill of attacking midfielders, but the Londoners’ appetite for new players is insatiable, and Villa fans will be pleased to hear that Chelsea have turned their attention to RB Leipzig’s Xavi Simons in their attempt to sweep up the available talent.
Emery will target a fast start to the new campaign, with Premier League results significantly better than his pre-season so far. As well as bringing new blood in, the manager will be looking to the likes of Rogers, star striker Ollie Watkins, Donyell Malen, and Matty Cash to reach their peak within the next 20 days, ready for the season ahead.
He will get a good idea of where his squad is on Saturday night, and that goes for Toppmoller too.
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