Thorup: “We need to take our chances”

Late kick-off against Eintracht Frankfurt on matchday 13

FC Augsburg are set to welcome Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday evening (19:30 CET). Following the 1-1 draw away at Union Berlin, FCA want to put in another good performance in front of their home crowd and pick up points.

During the week, winter has well and truly arrived in Ausgburg, with the stadium covered with white snow. However, these conditions haven’t affected preparations for the upcoming game against Frankfurt. “The grounds men have done a superb job and it wasn’t a problem to train on the pitch despite the snow,” FCA head coach Jess Throrup explained, displaying his satisfaction.

Sunday’s game plan is already clear: Augsburg want to extend their unbeaten run and keep their first clean sheet of the season. “We were close against Union, but we didn’t quite manage it unfortunately,” said Thorup. Union’s equaliser to make it 1-1 only came in the 88th minute, whilst Finn Dahmen saved a penalty before that.

Two players are doubts

Thorup is able to pick his starting XI for the home fixture against Frankfurt from an almost full strength squad, but Arne Maier is not quite yet back to match fitness. Robert Gumny and Irvin Cardona are also both doubts. Both players missed Friday’s training session due to illness. We won’t know whether they’ll be ready to feature in the squad for the clash against Eintracht until the weekend.

As part of his analysis of the upcoming opponent, Thorup watched Frankfurt’s UEFA Europa Conference League game against PAOK Thessaloniki (2-1 loss for Eintracht). In the eyes of the 53-year-old Dane, “Frankfurt were by far the better side. They played very well and should have won.” The FCA coach can expect to come up against a “young, quality side, with lots of pace. We have to be prepared to work off the ball and then we’ll also have chances for ourselves and we have to use these opportunities.

Alfred Finnbogason will also be in attendance. FCA’s record goalscorer in the Bundesliga is set to receive an official goodbye before the game, which pleases Thorup: “Of course I’ve followed his career. I think it’s nice that he’s going to get a proper goodbye on Sunday because he achieved a lot for the club.”